Strawberries

• Strawberry farming is labor-intensive and seasonal migrant workers make up the majority of the workforce. Child labor and forced labor risks are present in the harvesting and packing nodes, which take place at strawberry farms in multiple geographies.
• Batches or lots of strawberries are often traceable for food quality assurance purposes; ensuring that existing traceability systems reach back to the farm level can enable the identification of farms of origin. Paired with supply chain mapping and a robust risk screening protocol, this information could be leveraged to identify areas that are at heightened risk for labor rights abuses. These areas can then be prioritized for more in-depth assessments of human rights and labor conditions at specific farms or producers. These in-depth assessments should include on-the-ground interviews with workers and their families, with a focus on the experience of migrant workers where relevant, including their experiences with third-party labor brokers or recruiters. The Responsible Sourcing Tool’s resource on Conducting Migrant Worker Interviews offers more information on how to carry out these types of interviews.
• Due to the perishable nature of fresh strawberries, the harvesting, handling, and transport of fresh strawberries need to be done in a quick manner. As such, the downstream value chain is often relatively short, making tracking lots or batches relatively straightforward.

• The U.S. Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report has identified forced labor among vulnerable populations in seasonal strawberry harvesting in Burma and Spain.¹Trafficking in Persons Report. United States of America Department of State, 2021, www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TIPR-GPA-upload-07222021.pdf.
• The U.S. Department of Labor has noted the presence of child labor in the production of strawberries in Argentina.²List of Goods Produced by Child or Forced Labor. Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 28 September 2022, www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of-goods?tid=All&field_exp_good_target_id=5857&field_exp_exploitation_type_target_id_1=All&items_per_page=10.
• Other sources have highlighted forced labor in strawberry production in Greece,³Malichudis-Solomon, Stavros. “The Cheap Labour Behind the Juicy Business of Greek ‘Red Gold’.” Translated by Gigi Papoulias. Voxeurop, 2021, voxeurop.eu/en/the-cheap-labour-behind-the-juicy-business-of-greek-red-gold/. Mexico,⁴Garrido, Edgard and Diaz, Lizbeth. “Picking Strawberries in Mexico for U.S. Tables Leaves Workers Asking for More.” Reuters, 2015, www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-farms-widerimage/picking-strawberries-in-mexico-for-u-s-tables-leaves-workers-asking-for-more-idUSKBN0O00X720150517. Spain,⁵Davies, Sophie. “’Shocking’ Abuse of Migrants Forced to Pick Strawberries in Spain, U.N. says.” Reuters, 2020, www.reuters.com/article/us-spain-morocco-farms-migrants-trfn-idUSKBN24271J. and the United Kingdom.⁶Fleary, Sinai. “Strawberry Slavery.” The Voice, 2021, www.voice-online.co.uk/news/2021/10/10/strawberry-slavery/.
• Strawberry farming is seasonal and labor-intensive, with migrant workers making up the majority of the workforce.⁷Importing Workers, Exporting Strawberries. International Federation for Human Rights, 2012. www.fidh.org/en/region/europe-central-asia/spain/Importing-workers-exporting. Many migrant workers are reportedly undocumented, which potentially exposes them to a lack of legal protection and deportation risks. ⁸Kukreja, Reena. “Migrant Strawberry Pickers Face Deadly Risks Living in Flammable Shacks.” The Conversation, 2019, theconversation.com/migrant-strawberry-pickers-face-deadly-risks-living-in-flammable-shacks-123576.
• There is evidence of female workers in strawberry fields being subject to sexual and physical abuse.⁹Kelly, Annie. “Rape and Abuse: The Price of a Job in Spain’s Strawberry Industry?” The Guardian, 2019, www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/apr/14/rape-abuse-claims-spains-strawberry-industry.
• Third-party labor recruiters are used to recruit migrant workers; for example, seasonal migrant workers in the United Kingdom are often hired by third-party recruiters in the strawberry sector.¹⁰Najibullah, Farangis. “Hundreds Of Central Asians Fall Victim To Overseas Jobs Scam.” Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, 1 August 2022, www.rferl.org/a/central-asian-victims-overseas-jobs-scam/31969347.html.

• Large and medium companies often manage the import, export, and transportation of strawberries while outsourcing strawberry farming to smaller producers.
• Small farmers may sell strawberries through cooperatives or traders, creating different points of aggregation. In comparison to other highly complex raw material supply chains, though, strawberry supply chains are relatively straightforward due to the perishable nature of strawberries.

• Strawberry harvesting is labor-intensive and typically conducted by hand, regardless of geography.

Strawberry harvesting is usually done manually, as mechanical harvesters are slower and less cost-effective.¹¹Fischer-Daly, Matthew and Anner, Mark. Strawberry Global Supply Chains in Mexico. Center for Global Workers’ Rights, 2021, www.solidaritycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Strawberry-Global-Supply-Chains-in-Mexico.March-2021.pdf If strawberries are sold for fresh consumption, they are harvested, cleaned, packed into containers, and placed in refrigerated trucks; these processes take place on the day of harvest and at the farm on which the strawberries were grown.¹²Fischer-Daly, Matthew and Anner, Mark. Strawberry Global Supply Chains in Mexico. Center for Global Workers’ Rights, 2021, www.solidaritycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Strawberry-Global-Supply-Chains-in-Mexico.March-2021.pdf. The fresh strawberries are then moved directly or via a producer cooperative or trader to retailers, wholesalers, and/or institutional buyers on a daily basis. The labor-intensive nature of hand cultivation and harvesting suggests that labor rights risks may be highest at the farm-level.

Strawberries intended for industrial purposes are treated in the same manner as fresh strawberries during harvest but are typically frozen after the cleaning process. The sales of frozen strawberries to processors may take place all year round.¹³Engelseth, Per et al. Modelling Fresh Strawberry Supply “From-Farm-to-Fork” as a Complex Adaptive Network, 2011, edepot.wur.nl/173998.

• 1
  Trafficking in Persons Report. United States of America Department of State, 2021, www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TIPR-GPA-upload-07222021.pdf.
• 2
  List of Goods Produced by Child or Forced Labor. Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 28 September 2022, www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of-goods?tid=All&field_exp_good_target_id=5857&field_exp_exploitation_type_target_id_1=All&items_per_page=10.
• 3
  Malichudis-Solomon, Stavros. “The Cheap Labour Behind the Juicy Business of Greek ‘Red Gold’.” Translated by Gigi Papoulias. Voxeurop, 2021, voxeurop.eu/en/the-cheap-labour-behind-the-juicy-business-of-greek-red-gold/.
• 4
  Garrido, Edgard and Diaz, Lizbeth. “Picking Strawberries in Mexico for U.S. Tables Leaves Workers Asking for More.” Reuters, 2015, www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-farms-widerimage/picking-strawberries-in-mexico-for-u-s-tables-leaves-workers-asking-for-more-idUSKBN0O00X720150517.
• 5
  Davies, Sophie. “’Shocking’ Abuse of Migrants Forced to Pick Strawberries in Spain, U.N. says.” Reuters, 2020, www.reuters.com/article/us-spain-morocco-farms-migrants-trfn-idUSKBN24271J.
• 6
  Fleary, Sinai. “Strawberry Slavery.” The Voice, 2021, www.voice-online.co.uk/news/2021/10/10/strawberry-slavery/.
• 7
  Importing Workers, Exporting Strawberries. International Federation for Human Rights, 2012. www.fidh.org/en/region/europe-central-asia/spain/Importing-workers-exporting.
• 8
  Kukreja, Reena. “Migrant Strawberry Pickers Face Deadly Risks Living in Flammable Shacks.” The Conversation, 2019, theconversation.com/migrant-strawberry-pickers-face-deadly-risks-living-in-flammable-shacks-123576.
• 9
  Kelly, Annie. “Rape and Abuse: The Price of a Job in Spain’s Strawberry Industry?” The Guardian, 2019, www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/apr/14/rape-abuse-claims-spains-strawberry-industry.
• 10
  Najibullah, Farangis. “Hundreds Of Central Asians Fall Victim To Overseas Jobs Scam.” Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, 1 August 2022, www.rferl.org/a/central-asian-victims-overseas-jobs-scam/31969347.html.
• 11
  Fischer-Daly, Matthew and Anner, Mark. Strawberry Global Supply Chains in Mexico. Center for Global Workers’ Rights, 2021, www.solidaritycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Strawberry-Global-Supply-Chains-in-Mexico.March-2021.pdf
• 12
  Fischer-Daly, Matthew and Anner, Mark. Strawberry Global Supply Chains in Mexico. Center for Global Workers’ Rights, 2021, www.solidaritycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Strawberry-Global-Supply-Chains-in-Mexico.March-2021.pdf.
• 13
  Engelseth, Per et al. Modelling Fresh Strawberry Supply “From-Farm-to-Fork” as a Complex Adaptive Network, 2011, edepot.wur.nl/173998.
• 14
  List of exporters for the selected product in 2021. Product: 081010 Fresh strawberries. ITC Trade Map, www.trademap.org/Country_SelProduct.aspx?nvpm=1%7c%7c%7c%7c%7cTOTAL%7c%7c%7c2%7c1%7c1%7c2%7c1%7c%7c2%7c1%7c%7c1.
• 15
  Crops and livestock products. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2021. www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QCL.