Harris Coffee
Lacks transparency. Publishes some details, but doesn't show its workers are paid and treated fairly.
Last researched 3 November 2026 · 7 sources
Sydney-roasted coffee brand selling beans, ground and instant coffee.
There's no proof the people who grow its coffee earn more than the legal minimum, which in Brazil is below a living wage, and Harris Coffee has no full independent audit.
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Why it's graded Lacks transparency
- Not met: Meets 1 of 5 Good requirements.
- Holds the grade back: It has 2 red flags: no evidence of a living wage and unaudited production in high-risk countries. Two or more red flags means a poor grade.
- It isn't Harm on record, because there's no serious confirmed problem on its record.
- 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 1 of 5
- Not met: Pays a living wage, or holds a strong fair-pay certificationLiving wage: no evidence
- Not met: Respects worker rightsSome of its coffee is grown in countries such as Honduras and Colombia, where unions are heavily restricted, and it has no full supply chain audit.
- Not met: Supply chain independently audited or certified, or at least 80% made in countries with strong labour standards
- Met: No confirmed child or forced labour findings or linksUnconfirmed reports of forced labour are listed below. They don't affect the grade.
- 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: Made partly in countries with poor worker rights, without a full independent audit of its supply chain
| Star | Awarded for |
|---|---|
| Finds and fixes problems, or invests in communities |
Stars only show on Good companies. About stars
Estimates for its products
Our rules applied to one kind of product at a time, using Harris Coffee's evidence and, where it has product lines, that line's countries. They're estimates: we don't know which factory made any single item.
- A product carrying the Fairtrade mark: Good
Holding one? Scan its barcode for an estimate that uses its care label or ingredients.
Where its coffee is grown
These are JDE Peet's coffee origins across all its brands; Harris Coffee 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 |
| Honduras | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| Uganda | Systematic violations | Far 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 |
| PeruUsual for the industry | Systematic violations | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| GuatemalaUsual for the industry | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| Papua New Guinea | We don't have labour ratings for this country yet. | ||
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
- Invests in worker and farming communities
Research notes Harris is one of JDE Peet's Australian brands; JDE Australia says all the coffee it sold here in 2024 was responsibly sourced through its Common Grounds programme, which JDE runs itself rather than an independent label. JDE buys from about 30 origins, including Brazil, Honduras, Papua New Guinea and Uganda, but Harris packs say only 'multiple origins'. Brazilian farms linked to JDE's suppliers have been found using slave labour; in 2026 JDE began a four-year project with the ILO on these risks in Brazil, but it has no living income target for farmers.
What independent sources say
| Source | Result | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Australian Modern Slavery Register | Listed | Jacobs Douwe Egberts AU lodges annual modern slavery statements that name Harris as one of its brands (latest seen for 2024). View |
| UK Modern Slavery Statement Registry | Listed | JDE Peet's lodges a group modern slavery statement for 2025 (approved May 2026), naming child labour risks on coffee farms in Honduras and Uganda. View |
| Business & Human Rights Resource Centre | Problem found | BHRRC records JDE's response to the 2024 Bitter Brew report on slave labour in Brazil's coffee supply chain. View |
| News reporting and NGO investigations | Listed | Conectas and SOMO (2024) link JDE through the Cooxupé cooperative to farms where 87 workers were rescued in 2018. View |
| US Department of Labor goods lists | Listed | Coffee from Brazil is listed for child and forced labour, and coffee from Honduras and several other origins for child labour. View |
| KnowTheChain | Not listed | Neither JDE Peet's nor owner Keurig Dr Pepper is among the 45 companies in the 2026 KnowTheChain food and beverage benchmark. View |
| Fairtrade (incl. FLOCERT and Fairtrade ANZ) | Not listed | Harris packs carry no Fairtrade or Rainforest Alliance label; the coffee is sourced under JDE's own Common Grounds programme. View |
Unconfirmed reports
Credible reports that haven't been confirmed by a regulator, completed investigation or the company. They're shown for your information and don't affect the grade.
- Brazilian inspectors rescued 87 workers from slave-like conditions in 2018 on farms supplying the Cooxupé cooperative, a coffee supplier to owner JDE (Conectas, 2024); no link to Harris coffee has been shown. A 2018 OECD complaint by Conectas and the union ADERE-MG over the case closed in 2025 with no resolution. Source
- Repórter Brasil reported in 2025 that four farms of Cooxupé members were put on Brazil's slave-labour list over 36 workers, and that Cooxupé's exporter supplied JDE; JDE and other buyers said they had not sourced from those farms (BHRRC, 2025). Source
Sources and actions
Sources 7
Show all 7 sources
- Bitter Brew (Conectas and SOMO, 2024) · search the archive · 87 workers rescued in 2018 on farms supplying Cooxupé, which sells to JDE
- JDE Peet's group modern slavery statement 2025 (UK registry) · search the archive · 2025 group statement approved May 2026; child labour risks in Honduras and Uganda coffee; childcare centres and remediation projects
- Harris Coffee Beans Strong 1kg (Woolworths) · search the archive · Sold at Woolworths; roasted in Sydney since 1883 with coffee from multiple origins; no certification shown.
- OECD Watch: Conectas & ADERE-MG v. Jacobs Douwe Egberts · search the archive · Complaint filed 2018; JDE left mediation in 2024; final statement in 2025 with no resolution
- ILO and JDE Peet's launch FAIR COFFEE initiative (Devdiscourse, 2026) · search the archive · May 2026: four-year ILO and JDE Peet's project on child and forced labour risks in Bahia and Minas Gerais coffee
Published by Harris Coffee or its owner
- Jacobs Douwe Egberts AU Modern Slavery Statement 2024 · search the archive · Names Harris as a JDE AU brand; 100% of JDE AU coffee responsibly sourced via Common Grounds in 2024; about 30 origins.
- JDE Peet's responsible sourcing · search the archive · 88.8% of green coffee responsibly sourced in 2025 under the HREDD process; this does not mean no abuses
Company details
- Headquarters
- Australia
- Last researched
- 3 November 2026
- Cite this page
- Labour Lens, "Is Harris Coffee ethical? Labour rating", https://www.labourlens.net/brand/harris-coffee, last researched 3 November 2026, accessed [date].
- Method
- Researched with AI assistance against published rules. How we check · What Lacks transparency means
Better-graded beans and roasters
Something missing or wrong?
Grades are opinions based on the evidence listed here. Send us evidence, or a right of reply if you represent Harris Coffee.