Coop Italy promotes the No Cap tomato, the fruit of social and environmental sustainability. From August 7 to the end of the month, the Italian retail giant’s stores will double the supply of ethical tomatoes.
Alongside Coop-branded canning tomato crates-already ‘caporalato free’-is now ‘housed’ organic tomatoes from the ‘No Cap’ brand supply chain, in 3 kg crates.
Corporalism and worker exploitation, the unresolved crisis
The exploitation of laborers and workers is perhaps the most serious unresolved crisis in agriculture and the agribusiness supply chain, in the EU as elsewhere:
- in Italy, caporalato is so widespread that it even involves some major brands. Suffice it to mention the recent cases of Attianese in Campania, Spreafico SpA and StraBerry in Lombardy,
- in Spain, in the greenhouses of Almeria, exploitation is just as serious and tolerated by the authorities who should be preventing it,
- in Germany, the Covid outbreak in the largest industrial slaughterhouse raised the curtain on systemic abuses of workers’ rights.
In Low-Middle Income Countries (LMICs) outside the EU, the violation of farm workers’ rights has been denounced for years by associations such as Oxfam. And only the assertion of the responsibilities of due diligence and accountability of operators downstream in the supply chain will be able to induce change, starting with the most critical supply chains.
Coop Italy and No Cap
Instead, renouncing profits on the skin of workers is possible and necessary. Indeed, the synergy with the association that protects No Cap agricultural workers confirms the social commitment that Coop Italia has made since 1998, distinguishing itself as the first retail group to have SA 8000(Social Accountability) certification on all supplies of products under its own brands.
‘Sustainability all aspects of it is our way. We understand that in difficult economic times such as these that we are experiencing, it is always very difficult to keep a firm focus on the issue, but it is precisely now that we must not give ground on issues of justice and legality, and we believe that the collaboration with No Cap is perfectly associated with our branded product.
Since 2015, the commitment has been expanded by involving and empowering all fruit and vegetable suppliers, including those not under the Coop brand, whose products are distributed in its stores,’ says Maura Latini, managing director of Coop Italia.
No Cap, services for workers and businesses
The No Cap stamp is issued to agricultural enterprises upon verification of:
- Hiring with regular contracts. Working hours in line with national regulations. INPS enrollment. Durc. Social security contributions,
- workplace safety, adequate health services and access to first aid,
- use of renewable energy used in production, recyclable or biodegradable packaging,
- ability to create added value in sustainable supply chains.
The association was born in 2017 in the wake of the anti-caporalism movement animated by Yvan Sagnet (on the cover), a Cameroonian protagonist of protests against the exploitation of laborers in 2011 in Nardò, province of Lecce, Puglia. It is active in Campania, Basilicata, Sicily and Calabria, as well as Puglia.
Concrete support for agricultural workers and enterprises
Activism against caporalism manifests itself every day in the provision of essential services to agricultural workers but also advice to businesses to operate within human rights.
‘We are convinced that in order to fight against caporalism and labor exploitation in the agricultural sector, it is necessary to start with the supply chain of its constituents. From workers to farmers, from distribution to consumers.
‘The collaboration with Coop Italia, among the largest retail chains that have been committed against labor exploitation in agriculture for years, represents an important added value in the fight against caporalato,’ explains Yvan Sagnet, president of No Cap.
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
