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Nestlé and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) have announced the expansion of their long-standing partnership with the launch of a new two-year project: "From fair recruitment to worker protection in coffee supply chains." The initiative is designed to promote and protect labour rights within the coffee sectors of three primary sourcing countries: Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico.

The project represents a strategic move to address systemic "decent work deficits" in the coffee industry, focusing on the vulnerabilities of seasonal and migrant workers who are critical to the harvest and processing cycles of the global coffee trade.

The ILO will utilise its standard-setting authority and convening power to facilitate a robust "social dialogue" between national governments, employers, and workers’ organisations. This collaborative framework is intended to identify the root drivers of labour-related risks, including:

• Fair Recruitment Practices: Ensuring that recruitment processes are transparent and free from exploitation or hidden fees.

• Worker Protection: Implementing safety standards and rights-based protections for frontline agricultural labourers.

• Risk Mitigation: Developing country-level interventions based on data-driven insights into regional labour challenges.

Dan Rees, Director of the ILO Priority Action Programme on Decent Work in Supply Chains, emphasised that coffee production sustains 20–25 million families globally. "However, decent work deficits in coffee supply chains persist, particularly among seasonal and migrant workers," Rees noted. The project aims to contribute to more sustainable, rights-respecting supply chains.

Geographic Focus: Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico

The selection of Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico is a strategic choice, as these nations represent some of the most significant and complex coffee-sourcing regions in the world.

• Brazil: As the world's largest coffee producer, its labour market for seasonal harvesters is vast and highly mobile.

• Colombia: Known for high-altitude, labour-intensive hand-picking, which requires a significant seasonal workforce.

• Mexico: A key source for both Arabica and Robusta, with unique cross-border migrant labour dynamics.

By focusing on these three markets, the project aims to create a blueprint for "global knowledge-sharing" that can be applied to other coffee-producing regions across Africa and Southeast Asia.

Supply Chain Resilience

For Nestlé, the partnership is a core component of its broader ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) roadmap. Antje Shaw, Head of Sustainability for Coffee at Nestlé, characterised the move as a significant step in advancing human rights. "By working together, we can progress faster in creating more resilient and inclusive coffee value chains, where workers are treated with dignity," Shaw stated.

From a B2B perspective, this partnership serves to:

1. Enhance Traceability: Improving the visibility of labour practices at the farm and mill levels.

   
   

2. Mitigate Regulatory Risk: Proactively addressing the requirements of emerging global supply chain due diligence laws (such as the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive).

   
   

3. Ensure Supply Continuity: Protecting the "human capital" of the coffee industry to ensure a stable, long-term supply of high-quality beans.

The "From fair recruitment to worker protection" project signals a shift in how major coffee roasters manage their social impact. Rather than relying solely on third-party audits, Nestlé is engaging directly with a specialised UN agency to reshape the underlying labour infrastructure of its sourcing countries.

As the two-year project progresses through 2026 and 2027, industry observers expect the findings to influence global standards for fair recruitment in agriculture. Success in these three key markets will likely lead to an expansion of the program, setting a new benchmark for how the private sector and international organisations can collaborate to solve complex, multinational human rights challenges in the food and beverage industry.