The latest lot of coffee purchased by Lavazza Group from the cooperative Cocatrel (Cooperativa dos Cafeicultores da Zona de Três Pontas) has been done in February 2021 - before the publishing of Repórter Brasil’s investigation -, with shipment in October 2021.
The Group is doing all the appropriate investigations and evaluations on Cocatrel, that is a very marginal supplier for the Lavazza Group, representing the 1% of the total amount of coffee purchased in Brasil.
At Lavazza Group we commit to respect, protect and promote Human Rights: it is something not negotiable to us. We have zero tolerance toward human rights violations, and we strive to achieve the highest standard of people care, with the upmost commitment and the best resources available.
Furthermore, in view of the company’s support for the UN 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Lavazza has also identified Goals 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and Goal 12 (Sustainable Consumption and Production) as two of its four priority SGDs, with a commitment to pursue them while developing its business strategy and in all sustainability programmes.
Globally, Lavazza’s business is based on a responsible supply and procurement chain: in 2017, we updated the Supplier Code of Conduct by introducing the Children’s Rights and Business Principles developed by Save The Children, UNICEF and UN Global Compact; the same year, we reviewed the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) criteria for supplier qualification, which provide a further tool to ensure compatibility with the standards established by our Group.
Basing on these principles and those expressed in the Lavazza Supplier Code of Conduct, since 2016 all our green coffee suppliers are invited to acknowledge and confirm that no coffee for Lavazza comes from plantations included in the “Transparency List on Contemporary Slavery in Brazil” issued by Danwatch, nor by plantations or suppliers who may not fully comply with the law. We can confirm that also Cocatrel acknowledged, accepted and signed the conditions of the mentioned documents.
This commitment is renewed on an ongoing basis, involving employees, associates and supply chains, but also partnerships: with local institutions in producer countries; with outstanding organizations like Save The Children - Lavazza’s partner for 20 years -, Rainforest Alliance and Oxfam; at pre-competitive level, eg. with International Coffee Partners and Global Coffee Platform.
In Brazil, in particular, in the Minas Gerais area, in 2018, we started a project with Global Coffee Platform, a multi-stakeholder membership association of coffee producers, trade, roasters, retailers, sustainability standards and civil society, governments and donors, united under a common vision to work collectively towards a thriving, sustainable coffee sector for generations to come.
The name of this project is “Social Well-Being Collective Action Initiative”: it is a ground-breaking, multi-year project to improve the living and working conditions of coffee farmers and workers in the Coffee-Producing areas of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo, in Brazil. The initiative aims to: identify and change social practices that cause degrading labor conditions; increase education, awareness and collaboration to improve working conditions; monitor progress and impact using field tools and information management systems; create long-term benefits at field level for coffee farmers and workers.
This initiative is shaped by Global Coffee Platform Brazil with coordination from Cecafé (Brazilian Coffee Exporters Council) and InPACTO (National Pact for the Eradication of Slave Work Institute).
Furthermore, in 2020 Lavazza decided to use an external system for monitoring the sustainability performance of suppliers: the EcoVadis platform. This allows companies to monitor the sustainability performance of their suppliers, manage supply chain risks and propose improvement plans to the suppliers themselves. EcoVadis sends customized questionnaires to suppliers based on specific indicators, such as the number of workers, country of origin and commodity sector. Based on the responses and documentation and on 360° watch feature, suppliers are assigned both a general score on the company’s performance, as well as a specific score on sustainability issues.
Finally, should one of our suppliers become involved in conduct contrary to our policies and codes of conduct, following timely and appropriate checks, we will implement support and corrective activities and, in case of negative feedback, we will immediately exclude this supplier from our supply chain.