Sally Greenberg, executive director of the National Consumers League (NCL), said Starbucks is deceiving consumers about the ethics of its coffee sourcing. Greenberg shared her statement in a January 10 press release.
"On every bag of coffee and box of K-cups sitting on grocery store shelves, Starbucks is telling consumers a lie," said Greenberg. "The facts are clear: there are significant human rights and labor abuses across Starbucks' supply chain, and consumers have a right to know exactly what they're paying for. NCL is committed to exposing and reining in these deceptive practices and holding Starbucks accountable for living up to its claims."
The NCL has filed a lawsuit against Starbucks, accusing the company of falsely claiming "100% ethical" coffee and tea sourcing, according to the press release. The lawsuit alleges that Starbucks relies on suppliers involved in severe labor and human rights abuses, including child labor and forced labor. Despite Starbucks' promotional claims and their Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E.) Practices certification, evidence from various investigations shows significant exploitation and unsafe working conditions. The NCL seeks an injunction against Starbucks' deceptive advertising and demands a corrective campaign, urging the company to reform its sourcing practices to ensure fair treatment of workers.
According to a 2019 Fair World Project report titled "Starbucks has a Slave Labor Problem," Starbucks claims to support fair trade, but Brazilian labor inspectors discovered slave labor on plantations supplying coffee to Starbucks, even those certified under Starbucks' C.A.F.E. Practices standards. This issue, identified twice in nine months, highlights systemic flaws in Starbucks' commitment to ethical sourcing, according to the report. Fair World Project said Starbucks’ C.A.F.E. Practices program is inadequate compared to fair trade standards, lacking sufficient protections for workers and failing to address the underlying issues of exploitation in the coffee supply chain.
The Guardian reported that young children have worked as coffee bean pickers on farms that supply Starbucks. Children as young as eight were found working long hours in hazardous conditions for minimal pay, raising concerns about breaches of international labor standards. Despite responses from Starbucks promising investigations and zero tolerance for child labor, questions remain about the effectiveness of their ethical sourcing standards and the impact on vulnerable farming communities.
In January, NBC News reported that the consumer advocacy group NCL filed a lawsuit against Starbucks, accusing the coffee giant of false advertising by claiming "100% ethical" sourcing while allegedly purchasing from suppliers with documented human rights and labor abuses in countries like Guatemala, Kenya, and Brazil. According to NBC News, Starbucks allegedly continued to purchase from these suppliers despite having knowledge of the violations. The lawsuit aims to prevent Starbucks from misleading consumers about its ethical sourcing commitments unless significant improvements are made within its supply chain practices.
Greenberg is executive director of the NCL, according to the Carnegie Council. Before joining NCL, she worked at the Consumers Union from 1997-2007 on product liability and food safety issues, along with auto and product safety. Greenberg has also worked for the U.S. Department of Justice Foreign Claims Settlement Commission.