In 2013, ECOM announced the purchase of the commodity trading division of Armajaro Holdings, taking over its coffee, cocoa and sugar business.
[6] A recurrent issue in agricultural large-scale production is human rights violations, and allegations have been made against ECOM.
[13] The investigative NGO Repórter Brasil scrutinized labour conditions on coffee farms in Brazil in 2016 and found evidence of multiple abuses: advances never paid were discounted from salaries and the employer irregularly subtracted absences from pay slips, even for rainy days when harvesting was impossible.
ECOM said it was in compliance with and fulfilled its Rainforest Alliance group certificate obligations and responsibilities as farm manager.
Although all issues identified were rectified or resolved at the relevant time, the two farms have not been part of ECOM’s certification group since 2017.