Café Pilão
Lacks transparency. Publishes some details, but doesn't show its workers are paid and treated fairly.
Last researched 23 October 2026 · 7 sources
Brazilian ground coffee and capsule brand owned by JDE Peet's.
Café Pilão's supply chain was linked to forced labour in 2018, which it has only partly acted on.
Better-graded beans and roasters
Graded higher than Café Pilão, selling the same kinds of things.
Know something we've missed? Send evidence. Represent Café Pilão? Send a right of reply.
Compare Café Pilão with another brand
Why it's graded Lacks transparency
- Not met: Meets 0 of 5 Good requirements.
- Holds the grade back: It has 2 red flags: no evidence of a living wage and forced or child labour. Two or more red flags means a poor grade.
- It isn't Harm on record: the most serious problem on its record (forced labour link, last recorded in 2018) was a link through a supplier, which the company has only partly acted on.
- Lacks transparency is still a poor grade: in supply chains like this, workers who can't be seen to be treated fairly are usually underpaid or unprotected.
Good requirements 0 of 5
- Not met: Pays a living wage, or holds a strong fair-pay certificationLiving wage: no evidence
- Not met: Respects worker rightsJudged on where its coffee is grown: worker rights are poorly protected in Brazil, Vietnam and Colombia.
- Not met: Supply chain independently audited or certified, or at least 80% made in countries with strong labour standards
- Not met: No child or forced labour findings or links
- Not met: Names the factories or farms that make its products, or is fully certified by a scheme that holds and audits that list
Red flags 2
- Red flag: No evidence it pays a living wage
- Red flag: Forced, slave or child labour found in or linked to its supply chain
Stars it would earn as Good
None yet. Stars only show on Good companies. About stars
Where its coffee is grown
These are JDE Peet's coffee origins across all its brands; Café Pilão doesn't say where its own coffee is grown. The rest is shown as where coffee is usually grown.
| Country | Worker rights | Legal minimum wage | Forced labour risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil | Systematic violations | Below a living wage | Moderate |
| VietnamUsual for the industry | Systematic violations | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| ColombiaUsual for the industry | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| IndonesiaUsual for the industry | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| EthiopiaUsual for the industry | Systematic violations | Far below a living wage | Moderate |
| HondurasUsual for the industry | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| PeruUsual for the industry | Systematic violations | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| UgandaUsual for the industry | Systematic violations | Far below a living wage | Moderate |
| GuatemalaUsual for the industry | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
Evidence
What we found
- Risk across the industry, not a finding about this company: coffee is on the US Department of Labor child or forced labour list for over a dozen countries, and farm-gate prices often fall below a living income.
- Modern slavery statement
Research notes Pilão is one of Brazil's best-known coffee brands and belongs to JDE Peet's, the country's second-largest coffee company, which Keurig Dr Pepper agreed to buy in 2025. Neither Pilão nor JDE publishes the farms or regions behind the brand; JDE says it owns no farms, buys none directly, and that its Common Grounds programme reaches farmers in 18 countries including Brazil, with a target of 100% of volumes covered in 2025. Brazil's coffee harvest has repeated slave labour rescues, and no Pilão-specific certification, farm list or wage evidence is published.
What independent sources say
| Source | Result | Details |
|---|---|---|
| UK Modern Slavery Statement Registry | Listed | Parent JDE Peet's lodges a modern slavery statement on the UK register (2025 statement, published 2026). View |
| News reporting and NGO investigations | Listed | SOMO and Conectas (2024) say JDE is linked via Cooxupé to Brazilian farms where workers were rescued, and that the OECD complaint against it has seen no meaningful mediation. View |
Confirmed issues 1
Only confirmed problems are listed, and old ones drop off after 10 to 15 years. A problem the company has fully put right no longer counts against it, and nor does one it finds and is fixing itself. How problems are counted
| Last recorded | What happened | Made amends? |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Link through a supplierLabour inspectors rescued 87 workers in 2018 from farms supplying the Cooxupé cooperative, which sells to JDE; the 2024 SOMO and Conectas briefing 'Bitter Brew' says JDE is linked to these farms through Cooxupé. Source · archived copy | PartlyJDE Peet's began human rights due diligence in 2023 and funds a project in Minas Gerais; SOMO and Conectas say it refused meaningful OECD mediation. |
Sources and actions
Sources 7
Show all 7 sources
- Bitter Brew: modern slavery in the coffee industry (SOMO and Conectas, 2024) · archived copy · 87 workers rescued in 2018 from farms supplying Cooxupé, which sells to JDE; JDE refused meaningful OECD mediation; JDE did not respond to draft findings
- JDE Peet's response to SOMO and Conectas (January 2024) · search the archive · JDE owns no farms and buys none directly; Common Grounds reaches farmers in 18 countries incl. Brazil; HRDD programme from 2023; Minas Gerais project; 100% target for 2025
- Modern slavery is still lurking in your coffee cup (SOMO) · search the archive · JDE among companies whose coffee supply chains have documented abuses in Brazil
- JDE Peet's Modern Slavery Statement 2025 (UK register) · search the archive · JDE Peet's 2025 modern slavery statement lodged on the UK register
- Café torrado a 252º graus é a novidade da Pilão (Mercado & Consumo, 2019) · search the archive · Pilão is marketed by JDE Brasil and sold in Brazilian supermarkets
- Colosso dos refrigerantes compra a dona do Café Pilão por US$ 18 bilhões (InvestNews, 2025) · search the archive · Keurig Dr Pepper agreed on 25 August 2025 to buy JDE Peet's, owner of the Café Pilão brand in Brazil, for US$18.4 billion
- JDE Peet's compra empresa brasileira de café (Forbes Brasil, 2023) · search the archive · JDE Peet's brands in Brazil include Café Pilão; JDE is Brazil's second-largest coffee company after 3 Corações
Company details
- Headquarters
- Brazil
- Last researched
- 23 October 2026
- Cite this page
- Labour Lens, "Is Café Pilão ethical? Labour rating", https://www.labourlens.net/brand/cafe-pilao, last researched 23 October 2026, accessed [date].
- Method
- Researched with AI assistance against published rules. How we check · What Lacks transparency means
Something missing or wrong?
Grades are opinions based on the evidence listed here. Send us evidence, or a right of reply if you represent Café Pilão.