FOUR PRODUCERS affiliated with Cooxupé (Regional Cooperative of Coffee Growers in Guaxupé), the world’s largest Arabica coffee cooperative, were added to Brazil’s Dirty List for slave labor, updated by the Brazilian Labor Ministry (MTE) on April 9. The farmers were included in the list after labor inspectors identified 36 workers—among them a teenager—working under conditions analogous to slavery on farms in Minas Gerais state.
The inspections on the Cooxupé members’ properties happened between June 2023 and July 2024. In all four cases, the MTE found that the workers had no formal contracts, lived in substandard accommodations, and lacked access to drinking water.
Cooxupé said that upon learning of the updated Dirty List, it “preventively blocked the listed members,” suspended coffee purchases from the involved farms, and “segregated any stockpiled batches to ensure traceability and integrity of the products delivered to customers.” Read Cooxupé’s full statement here.
In 2024, Cooxupé recorded the highest revenue in its history: 10.7 billion BRL (1.8 billion USD). Of the 6.6 million bags of coffee received by the cooperative that year, 80% were exported. Cooxupé alone accounted for 10% of Brazil’s total coffee exports during the period.
Teenager harvested coffee barefoot
At the Córrego do Jacu and Paquera farms in Juruaia, state of Minas Gerais, a 16-year-old teenager was harvesting coffee barefoot when labor inspectors arrived, according to an MTE report accessed by Repórter Brasil. Brought by a labor intermediary, he had traveled over 850 km from Chapada do Norte, in the Jequitinhonha Valley region.
The teen told labor auditors he had been instructed to remain only on the farm due to being under 18. However, he once went into town without permission and was punished by being forced to work alone without access to a mechanized harvester, the report states.
The two properties, owned by farmer Marcos Florio de Souza, were inspected on June 17, 2024. At the time, Repórter Brasil reported that Souza was a Cooxupé member. In addition to the teenager, five other workers were rescued.
The workers told inspectors they sometimes had no drinking water, as supplies were not replenished at the work sites. On one occasion, their water containers were damaged, and they were left without water during the entire workday, which lasted from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Repórter Brasil attempted to contact Marcos de Souza through his attorney but received no response. The space remains open for future statements.
Two months without wages
On the same day, 11 workers were rescued from Cachoeirinha Farm in Nova Resende, where they were harvesting coffee for producer Vagner Freire da Silva, also a Cooxupé member at the time.
According to the labor inspection report, these workers had not received full wages for two months.
The complaints regarding labor abuses on Silva’s and Souza’s properties were submitted to the MTE by Adere-MG (Articulation of Rural Workers in the State of Minas Gerais). “We received the report directly from the workers themselves,” said Jorge Ferreira dos Santos Filho, coordinator at Adere-MG. “The Guaxupé microregion—just beyond Cooxupé’s immediate area—is plagued with rights violations, informal work, and illegal recruitment of labor from outside the region.”
Through his lawyer, Silva said he “disagrees with the conclusion that the situation constituted slave-like labor, as he believes the elements found do not meet the legal criteria for such designation,” adding that the workers were seasonal. He confirmed that Cooxupé suspended him immediately following the inspection. Read the full response here.
Workers slept next to calves
At the Barra Doce farm, owned by Leandro Aparecido Machado in Altinópolis, five workers were rescued on June 10, 2024.
The inspection report states that four lived in a house adjacent to a corral where calves were kept. A makeshift window opened directly into the animal area. “That’s degrading. It’s like being treated like an animal,” one of the rescued workers told Repórter Brasil. “I was in shock when I got there. You never think you’ll go through something like that. It’s humiliating.”
He explained that for the past three years, he had traveled from Bahia to work in Minas Gerais during the harvest, but he had never experienced such dire conditions. He had spent around 2,000 BRL (340 USD) on transportation, food, and protective equipment.
Sacks and cloths were some of the equipment used in the harvest that the workers had to pay for out of their own pockets. The inspection report points out that the employer, “even with the benefits he obtained as a member of the Regional Cooperative of Coffee Growers in Guaxupé”, acquired the “sacks and cloths needed for the harvest and resold them to the workers”.
Through his lawyer, Leandro Machado said that he “recognizes that there were contractual flaws, especially about formalizing employment relationships”, but “these irregularities occurred in a context where the workers, for the most part, worked as seasonal workers, also providing services to other rural producers”. He also clarified that he was blocked by Cooxupé shortly after the inspection. Read the full response here.
Women worked without bathrooms
At the Ouro Verde farm, in Carmo do Rio Claro, Lene Francisco Vilela da Silva was fined for subjecting 14 workers to slave-like conditions on June 28, 2023.
The group lived in accommodation that had broken walls, and they tried to improvise a bedroom by dividing the living room with tarpaulins, according to the inspection team. There were no wardrobes, and belongings were scattered or hung on wires nailed to the walls.
The kitchen window was covered with plastic, and there were no toilets in the field. “It was so bad, I don’t even like to remember it,” one of the rescued women told Repórter Brasil. She said that during menstruation, the lack of facilities was even more humiliating. “That was the worst part.”
She shared a room with three others, including a man, and said she felt threatened after the rescue. “I was so afraid. I just wanted to go back home.” She had left her nine-year-old daughter behind in Bahia. “I kept thinking about her… This year, I’m not going back.”
Repórter Brasil tried to contact Lene da Silva and his attorney but received no response. The space remains open for future statements.
Cooxupé seeks ‘Green’ Loan from Dutch bank
Cooxupé seeks a 30 million USD loan from FMO, the Dutch Development Bank. Still in the contract negotiation phase, the loan, if approved, is expected to be used by the cooperative to acquire, store, and trade coffee certified by the Rainforest Alliance standard. The negotiations between FMO and Cooxupé have been ongoing since August 2024.
With the slogan “Banking for a better world,” the Dutch Development Bank is funded by both public and private resources and is supervised by the Dutch Central Bank. According to FMO, the financing for Cooxupé “has a 100% Green label and potentially 100% Reducing Inequalities label.”
“The first item on FMO’s exclusion list is slave labor. These cases show that the bank is not operating in line with its mission to support sustainable development, as it is financing large companies and prioritizing profit,” says Merel van der Mark, coordinator of the Forests & Finance Coalition, a platform that analyzes financing potentially linked to socio-environmental harm.
She argues that the Dutch government is responsible for oversight. “The state is the majority shareholder, so it must ensure that this money is being properly used and that the policies are being effectively implemented. And that is not happening,” she adds.
When contacted, FMO stated that it is still in negotiations with the cooperative and that “working conditions on Cooxupé farms remain a critical and recurring topic in the discussions.” The bank also said that if an agreement is reached, it intends “to include technical assistance to help strengthen the existing program monitoring labor conditions among its suppliers.”
Cooxupé declined to comment on “ongoing negotiation topics and matters” and emphasized that it “has a consolidated Integrity Program, widely communicated to internal and external stakeholders, which defines best labor practices and respect for Human Rights.” The full statements can be read here.
From Cooxupé to the World
Among the companies that purchased coffee from Cooxupé between 2024 and 2025, in the years following documented cases of slave labor, are multinationals Volcafe, Louis Dreyfus, and NKG, according to customs data accessed by Repórter Brasil. These companies purchase green coffee beans in producing countries and export them to clients responsible for roasting and retailing the beverage.
When contacted by Repórter Brasil, Volcafe did not mention the specific cases highlighted in the report and said it had initiated an internal investigation to “understand the details of the matter and the nature of the allegations being made.”
LDC (Louis Dreyfus Company) stated it has no direct commercial relationship with the mentioned producers and that Cooxupé assured the company that the coffee supplied to LDC did not come from farms found to be using slave labor.
NKG, a German group considered the world’s largest green coffee trader, also stated it does not buy coffee directly from the four producers listed in the registry. In a statement, the company said it had been informed by Cooxupé that the coffee from the four farms was also not sent to other subsidiaries of the group.
The companies’ full responses can be read here.
Ties to major brands
In addition to being a Cooxupé member, coffee grower Lene Francisco Vilela da Silva—one of the farmers included in the most recent update of Brazil’s Dirty List for slave labor—was also a supplier to Exportadora de Café Guaxupé. This is evidenced by invoices attached to the labor inspection report, which Repórter Brasil accessed. The company exports coffee beans to clients such as Melitta, Lavazza, JDE (owner of the L’OR brand), and Starbucks, according to export records reviewed by the report.
In response to Repórter Brasil, the Melitta Group stated it did not purchase coffee from the Ouro Verde farm and that Exportadora de Café Guaxupé, with which it maintains a “trustworthy commercial relationship,” regularly visits and audits its suppliers and also checks the Dirty List.
Italian brand Lavazza said it has had a commercial relationship with Exportadora de Café Guaxupé since the 1960s and that the company “is one of our most historic and trusted coffee suppliers.” According to Lavazza, the Brazilian exporter guaranteed that it traced all coffee acquired from Fazenda Ouro Verde and that none was sent to Lavazza.
JDE also denied receiving coffee from the farm. “To ensure our commitment to proper practices, we have due diligence procedures in place to assess and monitor our suppliers, including measures to prevent forced or slave labor,” the company stated. Read all responses here.
Starbucks said that Fazenda Ouro Verde has no history of participating in C.A.F.E. Practices, the multinational’s ethical coffee sourcing verification programme. “Exportadora de cafe Guaxupe is a regular exporter to Starbucks, however, we only source green coffee from this entity which has been verified through C.A.F.E. Practices,” the company added. Read the full responses here.
Exportadora de Café Guaxupé had not replied to Repórter Brasil‘s enquiries by the time this article was published.
