Disclosure Regarding Transparency in the Supply Chain
For over 140 years, starting on a plantation in Cuba, the Gaviña family has been in the coffee business. Customers, employees and suppliers have been considered an essential component of the family business from its founding. F. Gaviña & Sons, Inc. (the “Company”) continues to operate the company on the foundation upon which it was founded: honesty, fairness, loyalty, quality and ethics. Today, the Company adheres to its history in its relationship with customers, employees, suppliers and communities (locally and abroad). Whether it is supporting a local charity, school or church or assisting farming communities in Mexico, El Salvador and Nicaragua to improve their living standards through education, the Company continues to strive to assist those in need.
The Company has adopted a Supplier Code of Conduct (the “Code”). The Code prohibits practices such as using illegal prison labor, physical abuse of workers or corporal punishment, illegal child labor, failure to pay wages or benefits according to applicable laws and failure to comply with laws regarding the number of hours worked. The Company is currently in the process of requesting that each of its direct suppliers accept and comply with the Code, with Suppliers ensuring that their subcontractors also comply on products being supplied to the Company.
The Company does not currently engage in verification of product supply chains to evaluate and address risks of human trafficking and slavery, and does not currently conduct audits of suppliers to evaluate supplier compliance with the Code. However, pursuant to the Code, the Company reserves the right to conduct or appoint a designee to conduct unannounced inspections of suppliers’ records and facilities, as well as to conduct private interviews with supplier employees. The Company is currently in the process of requesting that each of its direct suppliers certify that materials incorporated into the product they supply the Company comply with the laws regarding slavery or human trafficking of the country or countries in which they are doing business.
The Company does not currently maintain internal accountability standards and procedures for employees or contractors failing to meet company standards regarding slavery and trafficking. However, if the Company is made aware of or should it discover a violation of the Code, management will respond in a manner commensurate with the violation. The Company is evaluating training on human trafficking and slavery. Employees who have direct responsibility for supply chain management will be required to complete such training.