Coca-Cola takes action on land grabs

Following pressure from an Oxfam campaign, Coca-Cola has announced it will take steps to stamp out the practice of land grabs among its suppliers. More than 225,000 people signed petitions and took action in support of Oxfam’s campaign to urge food and beverage companies to respect community land rights.

Coca-Cola has also committed its bottlers and franchise holders to take the same action. The company will also undertake social and environmental assessments across its supply chains, beginning with Colombia, Guatemala and Brazil, and later moving on to India, South Africa and other countries.

The company will also publicly reveal its biggest sugarcane suppliers.

PepsiCo and Associated British Foods (ABF), who were also targeted by the Oxfam campaign, have yet to address the issues raised in the Oxfam report - Nothing Sweet About It - which was released last month, according to Dr Helen Szoke, chief executive of Oxfam Australia.

“Today, one of the biggest companies in the world stood up to take greater responsibility for the impacts of its operations,” Dr Szoke said.

“Coca-Cola has taken an important step to show consumers and the communities it relies upon that it aims to be a part of the solution to land grabs. This will resonate throughout the industry.

“The public response to the campaign has been tremendous. This commitment is further evidence that no company is too big to listen to its customers. The biggest food giants in the world are changing how they operate because consumers are demanding it.”

As part of its ‘zero tolerance’ commitment to land grabbing, Coca-Cola has committed to:

• adhere to the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent across its operations and require that its suppliers, including bottlers, do the same;
• immediately disclose the top three countries and suppliers of its cane sugar;
• conduct and publish third-party social, environmental and human rights assessments, including into land conflicts beginning in seven critical sourcing regions: Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, India, Philippines, Thailand and South Africa;
• engage with governments and international bodies to support responsible land rights practices.

Oxfam says that, as the largest purchaser of sugar in the world, Coca-Cola has immense power to influence its suppliers and the industry. The charity says the company’s commitment will improve transparency and accountability in Coca-Cola’s supply chain and help push stronger standards in the industry.

“We applaud the Coca-Cola Company’s leadership in declaring zero tolerance for land grabs - a vital first step,” Dr Szoke said. “The ball is now in PepsiCo and ABF’s court to respond to the hundreds of thousands of people calling for action.”