Social responsibility coffee, tea and cocoa

The social responsibility challenges associated with coffee, tea and cocoa are very similar to each other. This product information card focuses on coffee.

Coffee is cultivated on approximately 10 million hectares worldwide. Coffee is one of the most traded commodities in the world and, in economic terms, it is considered to be one of the most important raw materials. The largest producers are Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia and Ethiopia. The majority of coffee produced worldwide is still non-certified, which poses various social, human rights and environmental risks. The risks vary to some extent depending on whether coffee is produced on large-scale plantations or smallholder farms. Coffee farming provides income and livelihoods for many people but, unfortunately, many of them live and work in poor conditions.

A large portion of the tea sold in Finland comes from plantations where underpaid labour works in very challenging conditions.

The majority of the cocoa we consume comes from West Africa. Smallholder farmers of cocoa are often very poor and may not have the means to hire labour for their farms. Consequently, the children of farmers may not have the opportunity to attend school and instead have to work on the family farm. The exploitation of child labour exploitation is common on cocoa farms.