Brewing up a sustainable coffee supply chain

The social responsibilty of coffee roasters and private label coffee in Finland

Year-on-year, Finnish people consume the most coffee per capita in the world. The Finnish coffee market is dominated by the Finnish coffee roaster Oy Gustav Paulig Ab. Other significant players in the market are Meira Oy, owned by the Italian company Massimo Zanetti Beverage Group, and the Swedish coffee roasters Arvid Nordquist HAB and Löfbergs Lila Ab. In addition, small-scale coffee roasters, which mostly operate locally or market their products online, have mushroomed in Finland in recent years.

Coffee producing countries, including the world’s leading producers Brazil, Colombia and Viet Nam, are often considered risk countries. In other words, they are countries in which there are issues to do with freedom of expression and association, political stability, governance, rule of law, and corruption. In risk countries, human rights protections are also often weak.

This report by Finnwatch published in April 2016 explores the terms of employment and working conditions in the supply chains of coffee sold and marketed in Finland.

Download the report here.