As Haribo, a popular German candy maker, builds its first U.S. Manufacturing site, the company is being accused of producing its gummy bears with slave-made ingredients.
A recent documentary dubbed Markencheck ( or “Brand Check” in German) tracked Haribo’s production line, and found that the carnauba wax used to prevent Haribo’s sweets from sticking together were sourced from Brazilian plantations, Reuters reports. But those plantations paid workers the equivalent of $12 a day, and offered neither toilets nor filtered drinking water. Workers were also found sleeping in trucks.
A Brazilian Labor Ministry official told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle that many in the carnauba wax industry worked in conditions “that could be described as slavery.”
“We are investigating with our first-level-suppliers the precise nature of the conditions in the plantations and farms that supply them,” a spokesperson told Reuters Friday. “Furthermore, we are currently working on a prompt auditing of our suppliers.”
That comes after Haribo announced in March that it had acquired a location in Wisconsin to build its first U.S. Plant. The location is expected to be up and running in 2020.
Coins2Day has reached out to Haribo for comment.
