The True Cost of Kiwis

2023-03-01

LAZIO - The team has been investigating The Green Gold of Italy, or Kiwi Revolution as it is known locally, since April 2022. The Lazio region of Italy has become the world's largest producer of kiwis in the past years. But glitter doesn't always mean gold.

For thousands of farm workers trafficked from Punjab in India to work in the kiwi fields of Lazio, the sweet kiwi business is bittersweet. Following the entire supply chain of workers and kiwis - from Punjabi villages in India to Italian fields and European consumers - we have discovered an industry based on cheap labor and labor trafficking. The story is documented with more than 50 interviews with families and traffickers in Punjab, workers, farmers and authorities in Lazio, experts, organizations and with companies that are making their profits producing and exporting The Green Gold of Italy. In international markets, kiwis are sold under brand names like Zepri in stores all over Europe.

This project won the third prize of the Fetisov Journalism Awards in the Outstanding Investigative Reporting category.

© Stefania Prandi

Team members

Stefania Prandi

Stefania Prandi is an Italian award-winning journalist, writer and photographer.

Francesca Cicculli

Francesca Cicculli is an Italian investigative journalist based in Rome.

Charlotte Aagaard

Charlotte Aagaard is an award-winning war reporter based in Denmark.

Kusum Arora

Kusum Arora is a Punjab, India based freelance journalist.

Mentor

Pramod Acharya

Pramod Acharya is an award-winning Nepali investigative journalist and documentary producer.

Supported

€12.600 allocated on 11/04/2022

MSU/2022/032

Grant

Modern Slavery Unveiled

ONLINE

Il sapore amaro del kiwi, IRPIMEDIA, 01/03/2023;
Han drømte om det gode liv. Femten år senere er han stadig fanget i Italiens kogende kiwi-marker, Danwatch.dk, 04/03/2023;
En lille behåret frugt fortæller historien om moderne slaveri i Europa anno 2023, Danwatch.dk, 04/03/2023;
Slave i seks år: “I dag er jeg en fri fugl, som ikke finder mig i noget”, Danwatch.dk, 04/03/2023;
Galleri: Tag med til Punjab. Drømmen om et bedre liv i Europa, Danwatch.dk, 04/03/2023;
I retfærdighedens tjeneste. Marco Omizzolo har viet sit liv til at hjælpe Italiens migrantarbejdere, Danwatch.dk, 04/03/2023;
Sådan har vi gjort, Danwatch.dk, 04/03/2023;
Bitter taste of kiwis: Indian fruit pickers in Italy allege abuse, Al Jazeera, 29/03/2023;
El sabor amargo de los kiwis italianos, El País, 07/04/2023;
La explotación de los trabajadores indios del kiwi en Italia, El País, 07/04/2023;
Il gusto amaro dei kiwi italiani, Internazionale, 14/04/2023;
Behind the Sweetness of Italy's Kiwi Fruit Lie the Trafficking and Exploitation of Indian Workers, The Wire, 14/04/2023;
Driven by Desire to Work Abroad, Punjabi Youth Risk Everything – Even Death, The Wire, 15/04/2023;
Rampant and Unchecked, Punjab's Fake Travel Agencies Are Fronts of Human Trafficking, The Wire, 15/04/2023;
Enslaved in Italy for Six Years, Balbir Singh's Story Is a Cautionary Tale for Emigrants, The Wire, 16/04/2023;
Marco Omizzolo: The Italian Activist Punjabi Immigrants Hail as ‘Sent by God’, The Wire, 17/04/2023;
“Caporalato”, the crooked system behind Europe’s kiwi fruit, Voxeurop, 04/05/2023;
Italiens bittere Kiwis, TAZ, 29/06/2023.

Il gusto amaro dei kiwi italiani, Internazionale, 14/04/2023;
Non è dolce il kiwi italiano per i raccoglitori del Punjab, Il Manifesto, 20/04/2023;
Bittere kiwis, Tagesspiegel, 26/06/2023.

PRESS COVERAGE

Kiwi i danske supermarkeder høstes under problematiske forhold, Detail Watch, 05/03/2023;
Netto, Lidl, Rema 1000 m.fl. sælger kiwier, som er høstet af underbetalte migrantarbejdere i Italien, Dagens.dk, 05/03/2023;
La filiera del kiwi e il caporalato: un'inchiesta giornalistica (Radio Interview), Radio Popolare, 15/03/2023;
Prima Pagina (Radio comment), Radio Rai 3, 15/04/2023;
GIJN Newsletter May, 05/2023;
Interview with Kusum Arora, Connect FM Canada, 25/04/2023;
La catena del lavoro agricolo in Italia oscilla tra eccellenze e sfruttamento, Affari Italiani, 02/05/2023

IMPACT

Dialogue meeting: Migrant workers in the Southern European agricultural sector, Etisk Handel Danmark, 17/03/2023;
Kiwi e sfruttamento dei braccianti a Latina: la replica di GlobalGAP, Fruit Magazine, 06/04/2023;
L’inchiesta sul “sapore amaro del kiwi” a latina mette in crisi il sistema di certificazione, Corriere Ortofrutticolo, 11/04/2023.

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