Companies can put a full stop to the production and purchase of exploited berries.

Labor exploitation and, in its extreme form, human trafficking and forced labor are not a marginal phenomenon in Finland. Labor exploitation is a business model built on the exploitation of a person’s weak position, which has spread because the risk of being caught is almost non-existent and the penalties are practically negligible.

The biggest sufferers are the victims, but the effects of labor exploitation are not limited to them. The phenomenon affects every honestly operating company and all of us Finns, as competition is distorted, working conditions deteriorate and tax revenues are lost.

There is no single solution to eradicate labor exploitation, but many actions and legal changes are needed: from increasing the responsibility and supervision of the client, increasing the authorities’ powers and resources to criminalizing underpayment and identifying and helping victims.

Journalist Paavo Teittinen rightly pointed out (HS 3.3.2026) that companies do not need to wait for better legislation to combat the labor exploitation of berry pickers. Companies already have every opportunity to influence the working conditions in the berry industry in their own operations. Companies can put a full stop to the production and purchase of exploited berries.

Every retail chain can decide to sell fair trade berries. Every food industry company can decide to use fair trade berries. Every berry company that employs pickers can commit to fair trade criteria.

We demand that S Group, Kesko and Lidl, as well as all food industry companies, follow the principle of responsibility and due diligence when they buy berries. We demand that every berry company correct the distorted business model they have created.

Give your customers the opportunity to do the right thing.

In Helsinki 6 March 2026

Riku Aalto, union president, The Industrial Union

Annika Rönni-Sällinen, union president, Service Union United PAM

Veli-Matti Kuntonen, union president, The Finnish Food Workers’ Union SEL

>> Sign Finnwatch’s petition for fair trade berries

Photo of blueberries: Anneli Salo/Wikimedia Commons