Exclusive: Summary sent to UK supermarkets outlines clashes between pineapple thieves and Del Monte security personnel.
An unpublished report concludes that a sprawling Del Monte pineapple farm in Kenya is witnessing significant human rights violations, marked by numerous deaths and violence.
The Guardian has reviewed critical findings that accuse Del Monte Kenya of collaborating with a thieves’ cartel, alleging that company employees share intelligence. The report highlights significant issues with organized pineapple theft, with large-scale crop losses to gangs. British supermarkets, previously supplied by the farm, received a summary of the Partner Africa social auditor’s report last month. Subsequently, police are probing four additional deaths of men found in a river near Thika, who allegedly attempted pineapple theft at the farm over Christmas.
In light of the recent fatalities, Del Monte stated it is “collaborating with Kenyan authorities in the ongoing investigation into the circumstances surrounding the four bodies recovered from the Thika River.” The company asserted, “Footage from the attempted pineapple theft reveals no wrongdoing on Del Monte’s part.
Several supermarkets informed The Guardian that they had urged Del Monte to conduct a thorough inquiry into the recent deaths. Two of them confirmed withdrawing the farm’s products from their shelves.
Last summer, The Guardian and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism initially reported accusations of violence and fatalities involving security guards at the Kenyan farm.
In response, Del Monte promptly initiated a human rights impact assessment of its Kenyan operations. The resulting report outlines a fierce conflict between loosely organized factions of pineapple thieves and Del Monte security personnel, resulting in casualties on both sides, including injuries and fatalities. The report ultimately states that the Kenyan farm is inflicting significant human rights violations across various aspects, affecting its workforce and the surrounding communities.
The report also highlights that the issue of organized theft poses an increased risk for innocent bystanders, who may be mistaken for thieves and face the threat of harassment and arrest by guards. The Guardian previously detailed an incident in 2021 where a group, whose minibus broke down on a public road passing through the farm at night, claimed they were attacked by guards wielding wooden clubs, resulting in injuries, including a broken leg.
Partner Africa submitted its report to Del Monte on November 17. Del Monte subsequently provided supermarkets with an executive summary in December, shortly after The Guardian and TBIJ published a report on another death. The body of Peter Mutuku Mutisya was found in a dam on Del Monte’s farm in November, four days after friends claimed he had gone there to steal pineapples. Del Monte Kenya stated it had “fully cooperated with Kenyan authorities throughout its investigation” into Mutisya’s death and that the postmortem revealed drowning as the cause of death.
Last summer, Tesco halted the supply of Del Monte’s Kenyan pineapples, while Waitrose ceased the sale of pineapples from the farm in September.
Regarding the December deaths, a Tesco spokesperson expressed deep concern, stating, “We were deeply concerned to learn of the new allegations concerning Del Monte’s Thika farm in Kenya. We took the decision in June 2023 to suspend Del Monte fruit products sourced from this farm following previous allegations, and this remains the case. Both directly and through cross-industry bodies, we continue to urge Del Monte to take appropriate and robust action, including ensuring these most recent deaths are credibly investigated.
A Waitrose spokesperson commented, “We expect all our suppliers to comply with our strict ethical standards, and we’re very concerned to hear of these very serious allegations.
They stated, “An executive summary of Partner Africa’s human rights impact assessment report was shared by Del Monte to ETI members, including us and other supermarkets, on 18 December, highlighting areas for improvement that Del Monte should address.
Partner Africa’s report urges Del Monte to promptly initiate remedial measures for those “whose rights have been violated” and advocates for the formulation of a human rights action plan by the company.
A spokesperson for the British Retail Consortium expressed deep concern over the new allegations, emphasizing that the well-being of individuals and communities in supply chains is pivotal to their members’ sourcing practices. They affirmed that any practices falling short of their high standards would not be tolerated. The spokesperson added that a “credible action plan will need to be implemented following the recommendations” of the report, and retailers will subsequently evaluate the progress made.
Peter McAllister, Executive Director of the Ethical Trading Initiative, stated that the ETI had overseen the commissioning of Partner Africa’s human rights impact assessment (HRIA) and affirmed that his organization had “reviewed the complete report, which we consider to be thorough and credible.
However, McAllister clarified that the impact assessment “did not aim to probe specific and individual cases, such as the tragic death of Peter Mutuku Mutisya or the more recent deaths.” He added, “In our view, an [impact assessment] is not a suitable tool for such an investigation, and ETI would not be a competent authority.” McAllister emphasized that an investigation, as communicated by Del Monte, has taken or will take place. In his opinion, it is crucial for an effective, transparent, independent, and robust investigation into the deaths of now five people to be conducted.
We will persist in urging Del Monte to conduct a credible and thorough investigation into these deaths with transparent accountability.
This comes after criticism from Amnesty and other human rights organizations, claiming that supermarkets had not taken sufficient action to address the allegations highlighted in the joint investigation published by The Guardian last summer.
Amnesty, the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO), and the Kenya Human Rights Commission expressed reservations about how Del Monte and the supermarkets had handled the allegations of killings. One of their concerns was that Partner Africa’s work was more focused on an impact assessment of human rights rather than an investigation into the specific allegations raised in the reporting.
In November, these charities wrote to Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, and Tesco, expressing the view that Del Monte should have initiated a fully independent investigation involving legal and fact-finding experts.
Peter Frankental, a program director at Amnesty, emphasized, “British supermarkets must acknowledge their responsibility to put an end to the alleged serious human rights violations taking place in their supply chains in Kenya.
Sara Clancy, the executive director of Partner Africa, noted that the organization had engaged with “261 stakeholders, including 70 community members,” to comprehend “human rights risks related to security and evaluate whether human rights-compliant security measures are integrated into the companies’ policies and operations.
Del Monte did not respond to a request for comment on the Partner Africa report. In a previous statement addressing violence and deaths reported last year, a spokesperson stated that they took the allegations “extremely seriously” and had initiated a “full and urgent investigation.” They mentioned commissioning an “independent review by a specialist human rights consultancy,” which The Guardian has now confirmed to be Partner Africa.
Del Monte also expressed a commitment to “ongoing improvements in the way we operate to adhere to the highest international human rights standards in all our businesses.
