A banana group with operations in several provinces along Ecuador's coast and export contracts with European supermarket chains was singled out by an international organization in a report questioning working conditions on its plantations. The report, although based on partial and outdated data, was picked up by digital media specializing in fair trade and began circulating among the group's European buyers.
Within days, two of the main European importers requested an urgent meeting to assess whether to continue the contract, and the group's name appeared associated with "labor exploitation" in the top Google results when its brand was searched in English. The fair trade certification that underpinned much of its sales to Europe was at risk of review.
Our team deployed a three-pronged strategy: we documented and published, backed by verifiable labor audits, the real improvements implemented on the plantations over the previous two years; we coordinated an additional verification visit with the international certification body to clear up any doubts; and we worked with the European importers' sustainability departments to give them direct, transparent information before they made decisions based solely on the report. At the same time, we positioned verifiable corporate content in agri-food industry media.
Within 75 days, the group had kept both export contracts, its fair trade certification was renewed with no additional findings, and English-language search results no longer showed the original report in the top positions.
