Coffee
Coffee is grown on millions of small farms and large estates across the tropics, and most of it is picked by hand.
12.5 million
farms grow the world's coffee
SourceFairtrade International (2025): Coffee (opens in a new tab)
81
people were rescued from conditions like slavery on Brazilian coffee farms linked to the country's largest co-operative, April to August 2025
68%
of the coffee sold in the United States comes from four companies
How the 115 brands we've graded split
The industry at a glance
Brazil grows more than a third of the world's coffee and Vietnam about a sixth. Colombia, Indonesia and Ethiopia follow. (US Department of Agriculture, 2025: Coffee: World Markets and Trade, June 2025 (opens in a new tab))
Smallholders grow about 60% of the world's coffee, and 95% of coffee farms are smaller than 5 hectares. Their income rises and falls with the world price. (Fairtrade International, 2025: Coffee (opens in a new tab))
Labour Lens grades coffee on where it's grown and how the company buys it. Fairtrade certification and direct trade with named farms at published prices both count strongly.
On the record
- Fairtrade's minimum price for washed arabica rose to US$1.80 a pound from August 2023 and rises to US$2.00 from 1 December 2026, with a US$0.20 premium on top and US$0.40 more for organic. (Fairtrade International, 2026: Fairtrade International secures a stronger safety net for coffee (opens in a new tab))
- The co-operative linked to the 2025 rescues, Cooxupé, handles about 10% of Brazil's coffee exports. One of the people rescued was 12 years old. (Repórter Brasil, 2025: Brazil's largest coffee cooperative linked to new slave labor cases (opens in a new tab))
- The four companies are J.M. Smucker, Starbucks, JDE Peet's and Kraft Heinz. (Daily Coffee News, 2023: 2023 Coffee Barometer shows growing pressure for sustainable coffee (opens in a new tab))
- About half the land used to grow arabica may be unsuitable for it by 2050 as the climate warms, according to the 2023 Coffee Barometer. (Daily Coffee News, 2023: 2023 Coffee Barometer shows growing pressure for sustainable coffee (opens in a new tab))
- The US Department of Labor lists 1 resource in this industry from 17 countries as made with child or forced labour. See the list
Along the supply chain
Smallholdings and estates in Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia and Ethiopia
What happens here
Most farms are family plots, and the price farmers get moves with the world market. When it falls, families earn less than it costs to grow the crop.
What we check
Whether its coffee is Fairtrade certified or bought directly from named farms at published prices.
Seasonal pickers on larger farms, especially in Brazil
What happens here
Pickers are often migrant workers hired through middlemen. Brazilian labour inspectors have rescued coffee workers from conditions like slavery, including on farms linked to the biggest co-operative.
What we check
Any confirmed forced or child labour finding linked to the company's coffee.
Washing stations, dry mills and co-operatives
What happens here
Coffee cherries are pulped, dried and hulled, then pooled with other farms' beans. Co-operatives can pay members more and share Fairtrade premiums.
What we check
Whether it names the co-operatives or farms it buys from.
Trading houses and roasters in the countries that drink it
What happens here
Big traders and roasters set the terms most farmers sell on. Small roasters often buy directly from farms they know.
What we check
Direct trade with published prices counts strongly. A small roaster built around direct trade can be On Track on its own word.
The brand on the bag, the capsule or the café menu
What happens here
The brand decides how its coffee is bought and whether to say where it was grown.
What we check
Labour Lens grades the coffee itself, on where it's grown and how it's bought.
Resources on the US Department of Labor's list
The list names resources and the countries where the Department found child labour or forced labour in producing them. It covers whole countries, not companies.
1 resource shown
| Resource | Child labour | Forced labour |
|---|---|---|
| Coffee | Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guinea, Honduras, Kenya, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam | Brazil, Côte d'Ivoire |
What earns each grade
Good
8 of 115 brands
- Fairtrade certified coffee across its range
- Direct trade with named farms, with the prices it pays published
- Or a WFTO Guaranteed Fair Trade business
For example Cafédirect, Counter Culture Coffee, Kicking Horse Coffee · See all 8
On Track
7 of 115 brands
- A small roaster built around direct trade with named farms, graded on its own word and marked *
- Names its farms, has them independently audited and has a public plan to reach a living income
For example Equal Exchange, 23 Degrees, Coffee Supreme · See all 7
- Doesn't say where its coffee is grown, so it's graded on conditions in Brazil and Vietnam
- Rainforest Alliance alone, which sets no minimum price
- Names its origins but shows nothing about what farmers or pickers are paid
For example Ozone Coffee, Five Senses Coffee, Single O · See all 91
- Slave labour or child labour found on farms supplying it, in the last five years, that it hasn't put right
For example illy, Carte Noire, Lavazza · See all 9
Signs of a fair supply chain
- The Fairtrade mark, or WFTO membership
- Named farms or co-operatives, with the price paid per kilo or pound
- A roaster that publishes a yearly report on what it paid
Warning signs
- "Ethically sourced" with no farms or prices named
- A company's own sustainability programme with no independent checks
- Coffee from Brazil with no farm named
Try the rules
Pick an example or tick what a company can show, and see the grade the rules would give it.
The grade it would get
Grade: Lacks transparency
This company gets its coffee from Brazil, but publishes no certification, independent audit or supplier list. There's no proof the people who grow its coffee earn more than the legal minimum, which in Brazil is below a living wage.
Good requirements 1 of 5
- Not met: Pays a living wage, or holds a strong fair-pay certification
- Not met: Respects worker rights
- Not met: Supply chain independently audited or certified, or at least 80% made in countries with strong labour standards
- 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: Hidden supply chain: no certification, independent audits or supplier list
A made-up company, graded by the same rules as every brand on Labour Lens. What Lacks transparency means
The full rules are on the Grading page, with the finer points on Resources.
The brands we've graded
Where their coffee is grown
85 of the 115 brands say where their coffee is grown. The countries they name most:
| Country | Brands | Worker rights | Legal minimum wage | Forced labour risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil | 62 | Systematic violations | Below a living wage | Moderate |
| Colombia | 58 | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| Ethiopia | 39 | Systematic violations | Far below a living wage | Moderate |
| Honduras | 38 | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| Guatemala | 27 | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| Peru | 27 | Systematic violations | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| Kenya | 24 | Systematic violations | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| Indonesia | 21 | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
Labels they hold
Browse by type
Good coffee brands
Questions and answers
7 questions
Is Fairtrade coffee better for farmers?
Usually. Fairtrade sets a minimum price that applies when the world price falls below it, adds a premium that farmer co-operatives decide how to spend, and audits farms for child and forced labour. It doesn't guarantee a living income.
Labour Lens counts it as a strong fair-pay scheme, so Fairtrade coffee can be Good.
What does "direct trade" mean?
A roaster buys from farms or co-operatives it knows, usually at a higher price than the market, without a certification in between. There's no single standard, so anyone can use the words.
On Labour Lens, direct trade counts strongly when the roaster names the farms and publishes the prices it pays. A small roaster built around direct trade can be On Track on its own word, marked * as self-reported. The rule is on the Resources page.
Why does coffee from Brazil get extra scrutiny?
Brazil grows more of the world's coffee than any other country, and its labour inspectors keep finding coffee workers in conditions like slavery. In 2025, Repórter Brasil (opens in a new tab) linked new cases to the country's largest co-operative.
The US Department of Labor lists Brazilian coffee for both child and forced labour. A small direct trade roaster can't be On Track on its own word if half or more of its coffee is from Brazil.
Are coffee capsules and pods graded differently?
No. The capsule brand is graded on the coffee inside: where it's grown and how it's bought. The capsule itself doesn't change the grade.
What does Rainforest Alliance certification mean for coffee?
Farms are audited against its standard, which includes rules on child and forced labour. It sets no minimum price, so it's weaker on income than Fairtrade, and on its own it doesn't show that farmers earn a living.
Who picks the coffee?
On smallholdings, mostly the farming family and neighbours. On larger farms, seasonal workers who often travel for the harvest and are hired through middlemen. They're the people most at risk of debt, unpaid wages and unsafe housing, and the hardest for a buyer to see.
Does a higher price mean the farmer got more?
Not necessarily. Specialty coffee often pays more for quality, but without named farms and published prices there's no way to tell how much of the price reached the farm. A roaster that publishes what it paid each farm can show it.
Sources
- Coffee: World Markets and Trade, June 2025 (opens in a new tab) US Department of Agriculture, 2025
- Coffee (opens in a new tab) Fairtrade International, 2025
- Brazil's largest coffee cooperative linked to new slave labor cases (opens in a new tab) Repórter Brasil, 2025
- 2023 Coffee Barometer shows growing pressure for sustainable coffee (opens in a new tab) Daily Coffee News, 2023
- Fairtrade International secures a stronger safety net for coffee (opens in a new tab) Fairtrade International, 2026
- List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor (opens in a new tab) US Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), 2024
Figures are as each source published them. The grades and brand counts are Labour Lens's own, from the brands we've researched.
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