For most of us in the developed world, as long as people have options or reasonable choices, how they make the choices is not really something we spend time thinking about. If people have very few options, then we might be concerned, some will be outraged, and most will think who benefits and is that good? In many parts of the world, the population depends on subsistent wages and hopefully they are doing ok relative to those around them.

If you think about the sugar industry, it has been a very labor-intensive industry since people found they like the final product. Most people likely eat too much sugar, but we like it and when we eat it we do not really think about where the raw ingredients came from.

In an article by Megha Rajagopalan of the New York Times News Service, it seems the sugar industry in Maharashtra, India has not changed a great deal over the decades it has been growing sugar. An investigation by the New York Times and The Fuller Project revealed a wide range of labor abuses. At the heart of the manner is how people are paid. Instead of wages, migrant workers receive an advance each season. They function as loans are repaid through work. The documentation is thin and workers are often in debt which means they need to come back the following year to return to pay off their debts. Workers say they make about $5.00 a day.

Mill owners said the workers have always been paid that way and changing the practice would hurt the business as workers would find it easier to leave and not do the work.

Sugar producers and buyers have known about the practice for years but have not little to change it. One mill profited off the abuses received a seal of approval from Bonsucro. Major brands such as Coke, Pepsi, Unilever and General Mills have used Bonsucro endorsements to bolster the images of their supply chain,

Bonsucro CEO Danielle Morley had been aware of some of the concerns of the workers but no one told inspectors to look for it. Pepsi said relative to its overall sugar buying levels, the amount which comes from Maharashtra is a small amount.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, the companies listed above are some of the most profitable companies on the planet and the margins in the product made from sugar are and still remain high. Even Warren Buffett owns as a core holding Coke. If you owned shares in Pepsi, you would have enjoyed healthy returns as well. Every company which is profitable likely has some element which is not great for everyone, but they are profitable and people in society use their products and services. As an investor you can ask if the company should do more to mitigate the negative, but most investors are concerned with profitability which leads to paying dividends.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.