Probably you’ve heard of the reports of child labour used up to 40 hours a week in coffee plantations (7 for Nespresso and 5 for Starbucks) in Guatemala. While both Nespresso and Starbucks have claimed an investigation is in process and we personally have no doubts that they will cut ties with the plantations if the children working there haven’t been given the time to keep going to school (which is what this is all about after all), we believe that the issue is after all mainly cultural, with parents accepting as natural that young children may work alongside them. Paying parents more is thus welcomed and right but hardly a 100% sure fix for this issue.
At the same time, removing ties with these plantations will only make the adults poorer and incentivize further use of the children in hard manual work to compensate the loss of money. It is a tricky and difficult issue that can’t be simply fixed by any company but requires the help of local governments and lots of education.
Let’s not forget also, as George Clooney recently reminded, that Nespresso is helping revitalizing coffee origins in poor regions that otherwise wouldn’t have a chance to compete globally. Think about South Sudan, or the Cafecito de Puerto Rico, in an area suffering from the effects of a hurrican, or the Yemen pod, from a region ravaged by war. Nespresso isn’t perfect, no company is, yet it is also not powerful enough to fix all the issues it faces around the world. Local societies must act too.