Morrisons and Iceland have both cut Del Monte tinned pineapple products from its shelves over ongoing Kenyan human rights abuse claims.
They have become the latest supermarkets to ditch the fruit brand over concerning allegations of new violence and killings by Del Monte guards at its Thika farms in Kenya, reported the Standard.
Last year, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Waitrose all stopped stocking Del Monte’s pineapple products over human rights violations, following a Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) and Guardian investigation published last year.
The fruit brand was embroiled in controversy over the treatment of its workers when it was revealed across 134 villagers living near the farm, the community was found to have claims of five deaths, five rapes and allegations of serious injuries.
However, since then, Del Monte has again faced more claims of workers facing violent abuse on its farms, including the deaths of four men whose bodies were retrieved from a river in December, and bystanders who were reported to have been hit by stray bullets during fights between police and young men, the TBIJ recently found.
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Iceland confirmed it is no longer selling the FMCG’s products, while a spokesperson for Morrisons said: “We are moving tinned pineapple sourcing out of Kenya until Del Monte’s human rights improvement plan has been fully implemented.”
Iceland added: “We can confirm that Iceland does not stock products from the farms in question.”
“Across all product ranges and suppliers, Iceland has thorough processes in place to ensure our high standards are met and will continue to monitor this situation.”
Responding to the allegations last year, the food production company said it took the allegations “extremely seriously”.
A spokesperson for Fresh Del Monte said: “We take these allegations extremely seriously and have instituted a full and urgent investigation into them.
“The conduct alleged in these cases is in clear violation of Fresh Del Monte’s longstanding commitment to human rights and the comprehensive policies and procedures we have in place to ensure our operations respect the dignity of all individuals.”
Del Monte has been contacted for comment.
