^{Sustainability}
HRDD 101

Human Rights expert Claire Lynch
from CLA explains what it is, and
why it matters more than ever

Think about the journey of a beverage before it reaches a consumer. It begins long before a factory or a bottle - in fields and farms across continents - cultivated, harvested and processed through complex chains of growers, traders, processors and intermediaries. That international supply chain is one of the defining features of the beverage industry. It is also why significant risks to people arise within it.

Those risks are not abstract. At every stage of that journey, people are involved - and some of them may be working in conditions that would be unacceptable anywhere: wages so low families go hungry, excessive hours, children working instead of going to school, or people who cannot leave because someone controls their documents and their freedom. A company at the end of that chain may have no direct relationship with those workers and no visibility of their circumstances, but the purchasing decisions it makes - what it buys, from whom, at what price – help shape the conditions those workers labor under. It shares responsibility for those conditions. That is the problem HRDD (Human Rights Due Diligence) exists to address.

HRDD is the process a company uses to understand and address the risks to people in its operations and supply chain. Those risks can arise internally, in how a company treats its own workforce, but the greater exposure typically lies further out, among suppliers and partners.

In practice, HRDD works as a cycle:

Commit to respecting human rights
Map your supply chain
Assess where the risks to people are greatest
Take action to prevent or address the most
urgent harms
Track whether that action is making a difference
Communicate honestly
Then start again

It is an ongoing management system, not a compliance checklist, and it becomes more effective the more seriously it is taken.

For years, the business case for HRDD rested primarily on ethics and reputational risk, but recent advances mean the commercial logic has sharpened considerably. Now it is significantly more than a case of “doing the right thing”.

The regulatory picture is clear. The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive requires large companies to conduct HRDD across their full value chains by 2029. A separate EU regulation targeting forced labor will take effect in 2027. France, Germany and Norway already have national laws in force. In the US, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act bars goods linked to high-risk supply chains from entry unless the importer can prove otherwise – with enforcement expanding steadily into new sectors. For businesses operating across these markets, HRDD is no longer discretionary.

The litigation landscape reinforces the point. A UK company this year settled a claim brought by workers alleging serious abuses at an overseas supplier. A French court in the same period found a major brand liable for failing to prevent human rights violations abroad. In both cases, the companies had credible policies in place. Their implementation was found wanting.

The big players are already ahead of this. Major retailers and foodservice businesses are raising expectations of their suppliers. The ability to demonstrate robust HRDD is becoming a condition of staying in those supply chains, not a point of difference within them.

But the most compelling argument in 2026 is operational. Global supply chains are under sustained pressure: from geopolitical instability, climate events, trade disruptions and rising costs. Businesses that understand their supply chains deeply - who is in them, how they operate, and where the vulnerabilities lie - are better placed to anticipate problems, absorb pressure, and maintain continuity. The intelligence generated by good HRDD is the same intelligence that protects supply chain stability. When you map your supply chain for human rights risk, you are building exactly the knowledge base you need when a shipping route closes or a sourcing market becomes unstable overnight.

Taken together, these pressures make a compelling case. HRDD is not a response to external criticism - it is the foundation of responsible and resilient supply chain management. In 2026, the cost of not doing it is rising faster than the cost of doing it well.

The big players are already ahead of this. Major retailers and foodservice businesses are raising expectations of their suppliers.”

Claire Lynch
Human Right Expert CLA