Summary:
- Recent assessment by the Business and Human Rights Centre reveals that major food and beverage companies are falling short in addressing forced labor risks in their supply chains, exacerbated by climate change.
- The benchmark evaluated 45 global food and beverage companies, giving them an average score of 15 out of 100 for their efforts to prevent and address forced labor, a decline from the previous assessment three years ago.
- Nearly half of the companies scored below 10 out of 100, with only Australian supermarkets Coles and Woolworths scoring above 50. Companies like Unilever, Tesco, and The Hershey Company lagged behind with scores in the 40s.
Insights:
With approximately 1.3 billion people working in agrifood systems globally, the food and beverage industry remains the largest industry worldwide. The International Labour Organization reported illicit global profits from forced labor amounting to $236 billion in 2024, a $64 billion increase over the past decade, with agricultural workers generating around $5 billion.
The KnowTheChain benchmark, published by the Business and Human Rights Centre, aims to help companies and investors identify and address forced labor risks in their global supply chains.
Companies like Coles, Hershey, Tesco, Unilever, Woolworths, and Smucker’s scored the highest in the latest benchmark. Supermarkets outperformed other sectors with an average score of 24 out of 100, while packaged foods and meats scored the lowest with an average of 12 out of 100.
Companies headquartered in jurisdictions with strict regulations on forced labor scored higher than those without. Australian companies scored an average of 56, while European and U.S. companies scored 19 and 15 on average, respectively. Asian and Latin American companies scored 7 and 4 on average, respectively.
While food and beverage companies scored well in “Commitment and Governance,” their performance in responsible purchasing practices, access to remediation, freedom of association, and monitoring conditions for supply chain workers was lacking. Tracing and transparency scores were also weak, indicating a gap between commitments and actual practices in combating forced labor.
The Business and Human Rights Centre emphasizes the need for companies to go beyond mere commitments and implement concrete actions to address forced labor in their supply chains, as governments are increasingly enacting laws to hold companies accountable for preventing and remedying forced labor.