The Oscar winning actor George Clooney has spoken about allegations of child labour at a coffee company, for which he is brand ambassador. Clooney is on Nespresso's sustainability advisory board. This aims to ensure coffee is sourced from ethical suppliers. He said: "I was surprised and saddened to see this story." An undercover investigation by a UK TV company filmed children on six coffee plantations in Guatemala picking coffee beans and carrying large sacks of coffee on their backs. The farms supply coffee beans to Nespresso.
Mr Clooney promised that, "work will be done" to stop any child labour within Nespresso. Clooney spoke about his own childhood, living on a tobacco farm and picking tobacco in his school holidays. He said: "Having grown up working on a tobacco farm from the time I was 12, I'm uniquely aware of the complex issues regarding farming and child labour." Nespresso has launched a "thorough investigation". It has suspended all purchases from the plantations. It added: "Nespresso has zero tolerance of child labour. It is unacceptable. We will continue to do all we can to stamp it out."