Workers in the food and beverage sector are bearing the brunt of global insecurities, with few or no measures taken by companies controlling the food value chain to protect them, according to a new report published by the European Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, as cited by FoodNavigator.

Low scores

The world's top 60 food and beverage companies have an average score of only 16/100 when it comes to addressing risks related to forced labor in their supply chains.

The analysis from the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre showed that companies in the sector fail to identify and prevent abuses, with migrant workers—often employed in food and beverage supply chains—often facing the worst consequences of this inaction.

After six years of benchmarking, progress in the sector is stagnant, the group said, which is especially concerning against the backdrop of current geopolitical and climate crises.

Incidents of forced labor and exploitative practices are frequently reported in high-risk commodities such as fish, beans, cattle, coffee, rice, tea, tomatoes, and wheat.

Companies also perform particularly poorly in terms of preventive measures, such as supporting freedom of association and collective bargaining, incorporating workers' voices into due diligence processes (9/100), and remediation efforts, including reimbursing fees and addressing harm to workers (6/100).

Exploitative labor relations continue

The report added that companies are not doing enough to address exploitative recruitment practices (13/100), which often leave already vulnerable workers indebted and struggling. Additionally, companies fail to identify and report human rights risks, despite high-risk sourcing.

More than a third (37%) of companies have yet to disclose how they conduct a human rights risk assessment in their supply chains, according to the report, including meat companies Hormel (9/100), JBS (4/100), Tyson (3/100), and WH Group (0/100).

Despite the growing momentum for human rights due diligence legislation worldwide—which threatens legal, financial, and reputational consequences for non-compliant companies—there is a complete absence of fair competition conditions in the sector when it comes to addressing exploitation through forced labor, according to the analysis.

Only half of the assessed companies scored more than 10/100, a sharp contrast to top-scoring companies like UK supermarket Tesco (52/100) and Australian retailer Woolworths (56/100).

Meanwhile, some companies have shown little to no improvement in six years, the report added. These included meat companies JBS (4/100) and Tyson (3/100), as well as Coca-Cola FEMSA bottler (3/100). These companies "have consistently failed to demonstrate even basic policies and practices relevant to addressing the inherent worker exploitation in the sector."

Solutions exist

"The food system is a cornerstone of the global economy, representing up to two-thirds of all jobs. People who harvest, pick, catch, process, and package goods and produce from global food supply chains are trusted as essential workers, but the critical role played by workers in this sector is not reflected in corporate approaches to protect them," said Áine Clarke, head of KnowTheChain and Strategy for Investors at the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.

"At a time when forced labor risks are exacerbated by converging geopolitical, economic, and climate crises, it is alarming to see how little companies are doing to protect workers in their supply chains."

Solutions exist for global food and beverage producers to identify labor abuses in their supply chains. Cooperative models can support responsible and sustainable sourcing, for example, while human rights impact assessments (HRIAs) identify and respond to human rights impact in value chains.

Ethical sourcing, such as demonstrated by princes signing tomato supply contracts ahead of the harvest in southern Italy to eliminate exploitation of migrant workers, can further help food and beverage companies counter the issue.

However, Clarke warned that the cost of living crisis widens the gap between the sector's profit margins and the working conditions of those who make these profits possible.

"As human rights due diligence legislation develops globally, companies need to step up action on forced labor risks in their supply chains—or risk legal, financial, and reputational consequences. If companies in this sector want to improve the identification and prevention of forced labor risks, they must urgently adopt a worker-centered approach. This means giving workers and other key stakeholders a seat at the table when it comes to designing, implementing, and monitoring processes such as risk assessments, grievance mechanisms, and supplier monitoring."