Improving Human Wellbeing in the Coffee Supply Chain

Improving Human Wellbeing in the Coffee Supply chain: The Need for Better Data and Benchmarks Ahh a freshly-brewed cup of coffee…if just the smell of it brings you comfort at the promise of a caffeine-hit each morning, you’re not alone. Globally, we consume over two billion cups of coffee every day. And yet, how often […]

Why Investing in Informal Women Workers is Critical to Maintaining Resilient Supply Chains

Women on a blue background with sewing machine

Over 60% of the world’s employed population make their living through informal work, with no access to formal contracts or protection. Women make up a disproportionate percentage of informal workers, with 740 million women’s livelihoods dependent on the informal economy globally. Lack of secure employment contracts or social protection for these workers means that when […]

Engendering Regeneration for Supply Chains that Last

In a decade marked by climate shocks, pandemia, and global interconnection, the call to #InvestInOurPlanet is top of mind for individuals and companies – not just for Earth Day but for the future of life and business as we know it. Food and beverage corporations sense the urgency to transition to more renewable sources for […]

Six Actions Businesses Can Take To Reduce Negative Impacts of Purchasing Practices on Human Rights

Companies’ purchasing practices can have a profound impact on human rights. Businesses are under mounting pressure to take responsibility for the wellbeing of the women and men working in their supply chains, with mandatory human rights due diligence legislation approved or underway in several countries. While Corporate Social Responsibility and sustainability teams are working hard […]

Evaluation gaps, challenges and implications: Responsible business initiatives for sustainable supply chains?

Internally, many companies are already innovating on sustainability to a greater or lesser degree. Some make strategic changes with respect to sustainability performance, but the competitive pressures of globalized value chains remain very strong. Hence, becoming more responsible is not a straightforward task for brands and retailers, especially those in mainstream and/or highly competitive markets, […]

Three Promises Lidl Has Made to Protect its Food Workers

But there is another group of frontline food workers doing the same, hidden from view, those who produce the products we are all trying to buy, such as tea, coffee, prawns, fruit and vegetables. Even before Coronavirus, Oxfam research highlighted workers’ vulnerability, earning low wages on insecure contracts, often with poor sick pay and hygiene arrangements. In 2018, we launched the Behind the […]

Large Companies Have a Key Role in Strengthening Small Supplier Integrity

The project, run by Business Fights Poverty, has sought to find out how to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to take business integrity issues more seriously and adopt meaningful anticorruption compliance.   They conducted an extensive literature review and complemented it with an online survey, 24 interviews, and two business roundtables in which we gathered […]