Conectas Human Rights & ADERE MG vs. Dunkin Donuts

Allegations

On 21 August 2018, the union Articulation of Rural Employees of the State of Minas Gerais (ADERE MG) and the NGO Conectas Human Rights filed a complaint with the Brazilian NCP against six multinational coffee brands. The complainants argue that Nestlé, Jacobs Douwe Egberts, Starbucks, McDonald’s, Dunkin Donuts, and Illy have not taken proper steps to address risks of forced labour and other rights violations in their supply chains. The NCPs of the home countries of the involved businesses (United States, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Italy) have also been informed of the complaint.

According to the complainants, the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais is a key location for coffee supply chains. It produces more than half of the coffee exported by Brazil, which is one of the biggest coffee producers in the world. However, the complaint asserts that Minas Gerais is also a high-risk area for labour and human rights violations. In the past three years, authorities have rescued 820 workers from conditions analogous to slavery at the state. The situation has been aggravated due to budget cuts that led to decreased state monitoring.

In 2016, reports by independent media and research centre Danwatch and Reporter Brasil demonstrated that suppliers of Nestlé, Jacobs Douwe Egberts, Starbucks, McDonald’s, Dunkin Donuts, and Illy might have been involved with modern slavery. According to the complainants, the nature of each company’s link to the violation varies: while in certain instances the company commercialised coffee which might have been produced by workers subject to forced labour, other companies only maintained relations with cooperatives that did so.

Since then, the complainants have been monitoring the working conditions in coffee farms in the region, documenting several instances of forced labour and other serious labour rights violations. ADERE and Conectas reached out to the six coffee brands, asking whether they could guarantee that they had not bought coffee produced in the farms where these violations occurred. The organisations also requested a list of suppliers, and asked which measures the companies had adopted to fix the flaws exposed by the 2016 reports. The complainants assert that although some of the companies responded, none publicised their supplier list, nor indicated measures adopted to ensure remedy for victims and correct norms and policies in view of past flaws.

The complaint asserts that Nestlé, Jacobs Douwe Egberts, Starbucks, McDonald’s, Dunkin Donuts, and Illy have violated several provisions of the OECD Guidelines, international human rights law, and Brazilian legislation, in connection with this situation. ADERE and Conectas call for the six brands to provide remedy to victims, and to work collaboratively with complainants and other stakeholders to develop a joint action plan to prevent future cases of modern slavery in coffee farms in Minas Gerais.

Relevant OECD Guidelines

• Chapter II
• Chapter IV
• Chapter V

Outcome

On 12 September 2018, the Brazilian NCP acknowledged receipt of the complaint. In early 2019, it informed Conectas by telephone that it had accepted the case, and requested that the complainants separate the complaint into six separate cases to facilitate the mediation process with each individual company. The complainants honoured this request and agreed to split the complaint into six separate cases.

However, during a meeting between the complainants and NCP at the end of 2019, the NCP unexpectedly retracted its earlier statement and claimed that it had not officially accepted the complaint for good offices, and that it was still analysing the complaint. From that point forward, the complainants sought to ensure that communication with the NCP take place over email or written correspondence, to maintain a clear record of the NCP’s atypical commitments and process.

In April 2020, the Brazilian NCP asserted it had received responses from four of the companies (Dunkin’ Donuts, Jacob Egberts, Mc Donald’s and Nestlé). The NCP said it had accepted those four complaints and would ask for more information from the companies. However, the NCP issued no written initial assessments.

In January 2022, the good offices stage began. Three meetings were held in June, October, and December 2022 between the parties by an external mediator, with the support of the NCP.

On 11 November 2024, the Brazilian NCP published its final statement. The parties were unable to reach an agreement during mediation. According to the NCP, the complainants rejected Dunkin’s proposals on the basis that they “would not contribute significantly to improving due diligence in Dunkin’s production chain, and would be similar to the work already carried out by Certifiers”, whereas Dunkin “understands that it complies with national and international legal requirements, since its supply chain is monitored by certifying bodies that guarantee supply in accordance with current regulations.”

The NCP made several recommendations to Dunkin, including general recommendations to comply with the due diligence standards in the OECD Guidelines, as well as specific recommendations to improve conditions at coffee farms, such as carrying out unscheduled visits to coffee producers, creating a bonus points policy for farms demonstrating alignment with responsible business conduct principles, and promoting the implementation of a reporting channel built with workers for non-compliance with labour rights on farms that are part of its supply chain.

The NCP also recommended that Dunkin’s verification/certification processes should be evaluated by the company considering their own due diligence responsibilities under the OECD Guidelines. It is relevant to note that while companies can engage third-party certifiers and auditors in their operations, as the OECD Guidelines state, “[enterprises] remain individually responsible for ensuring that their due diligence is carried out effectively” (OECD Guidelines, Chapter II, commentary 12).

The NCP will follow up on its recommendations for at least one year after the publication of its final statement.

More details

Related complaints

• Conectas Human Rights & ADERE MG v. McDonald’s
• Conectas Human Rights & ADERE MG v. Jacobs Douwe Egberts
• Conectas Human Rights & ADERE MG v. Nestlé
• Conectas Human Rights & ADERE MG v. Starbucks
• Conectas Human Rights & ADERE MG v. Illy

Documents

• 11 November 2024

  Final statement

  NCP Brazil
• File

  21 August 2018

  Complaint filed

  Complainants