A new investigation has revealed that children under the age of 13 working on farms in Guatemala supply the Starbucks coffee chain. According to a British Channel 4 photographer’s investigation, children work 40 hours a week, in harsh conditions, and they pick coffee for a daily fee that is slightly more than the price of a Latte cup in Starbucks. Coffee beans are also provided for the Nespresso chain, owned by Nestlé. Last week, actor George Clooney, the advertising face of Nespresso, praised the investigation and said he was saddened by his findings.

The investigative team said that some children, who worked about eight hours a day, six days a week, appeared at the age of eight. The wages are paid depending on the weight of the grain they earned, as the bag weighs up to 45 kilograms sometimes. Usually, the child earns less than five pounds a day.

During the investigation, the journalists visited seven farms linked to "Nespresso" and five to "Starbucks", and children were found working on all of these farms. Human rights lawyer Oliver Holland, who saw some evidence of the program, noted that the two companies violated the International Labor Regulations, established by the United Nations International Labor Organization, and explained that "the agreements are very clear, in that they do not want to deprive children of education." “If children work 40 hours a week, there will be no way to receive appropriate education, and these are all essentially unsafe conditions for children, and children should not work in these conditions.”

Starbucks' annual revenue is more than 20 billion pounds, and it has about 1,000 stores in the UK alone.

After George Clooney saw some of the evidence, last week, the Hollywood star, a member of the Sustainability Advisory Board at Nespresso, said: “I was surprised, and saddened, to see this story.” “It is clear that this board and this company have more work to do, and I hope that these journalists will continue to investigate these situations and report them accurately if they do not improve.”

For his part, said the executive director of «Nespresso», Guillaume Loconf: «Nespresso never tolerate child labor, it is not acceptable». Continuing: «When there are allegations of not meeting our high standards, we act immediately, in which case we have launched a comprehensive investigation to find out which farms were photographed, and whether they are providing the company, and we will not resume purchasing coffee from the farms until the investigation is completed, and any issues revealed will be Deal with it seriously, and firm measures will be taken. ”

Starbucks also said: We "absolutely do not tolerate child labor, anywhere in the supply chain," explaining: "We have launched a full investigation into the conditions uncovered by Channel 4."

The international company said: "We did not buy coffee from the farms concerned, during the last harvest." "We are still concerned, and we are taking action because of the fact that these farms were verified in 2019, that they do not comply with our ethical resource standards, which are fundamental to the coffee industry," said Michelle Burns, director at Starbucks Global.

Channel 4 correspondent Anthony Barnet said: "It is great that George Clooney supports our investigation, but if he is serious about solving this problem, he must make sure that (Nespresso) is investing its money in the right place." “It is very easy to stop supplies from these areas, but this will lead to harsher punishment for farmers and poor families who depend on coffee farming; the reason these children work is that their parents are not getting enough salaries,” he said.

Executive director of «Nespresso», Guillaume Loconf:

• “When there are allegations of our failure to meet our high standards, we act immediately, and in this case, we have launched a thorough investigation to find out which farms were photographed, and whether they are supplying the company, and we will not resume purchasing coffee from the farms until the investigation is completed, and any issues revealed will be Deal with it seriously, and firm measures will be taken. ”