Amanda Sourry has built a career at companies plagued by shocking labor scandals and unsustainable practices in both the food and fashion industries.
At Unilever, OFI, and fashion conglomerate PVH, a clear pattern has emerged: forced labor festers.
It's time for her reputation to catch up to her record.
34 Years at Unilever Scandal after scandal.
Amanda Sourry climbed the career ladder at Unilever for decades, ultimately serving as President of North America. From 2015 to 2017, she ran the Global Foods division: the business unit most dependent on palm oil. Throughout her tenure, investigations have exposed Unilever's palm oil supply chain as a site of child labor, forced labor, and large-scale environmental destruction.
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A landmark 2016 investigation by Amnesty International revealed children as young as eight suffering on palm oil plantations supplying Unilever. Workers were exposed to toxic pesticides without protective equipment while earning less than minimum wage. Amanda Sourry was running Unilever's Global Foods division at the time.
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Unilever is historically one of the world's largest buyers of palm oil. Despite pledging a deforestation-free supply chain by 2020, the company missed its own target. Chain Reaction Research found Unilever responsible for 55,000 hectares of deforestation since 2016 — an area nearly the size of the city of Chicago.
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Unilever has marketed itself as a global sustainability leader for decades. But in 2023, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority opened a formal greenwashing investigation into the company's environmental claims after an initial review “uncovered a range of concerning practices.” Ironically, though she oversaw those very practices, Sourry now positions herself as an executive mentor on sustainability strategy.
FROM PALM OIL TO COCOA. SAME STORY.
Amanda Sourry sits on the board of OFI Food Group, one of the world's largest cocoa traders. OFI's track record on child labor is well documented:
Ghanaian children accused OFI's parent company, Olam, of breaching child labor laws in cocoa farming operations.
In Brazil, OFI-linked operations were sued after workers were found in slavery-like conditions. Parent company Olam told the court it "cannot fully trace its supply chain."
In spite of abundant resources and ample virtue-signaling, OFI continues to be middling on its chocolate scorecard, which grades chocolate companies on key sustainability issues and social metrics.
AND THEN THERE’S KROGER…
Kroger has spent years building sophisticated surveillance and pricing structures to squeeze as much profit as it can out of shoppers. From electronic shelf labels that can change prices instantly to cameras hidden in store displays and vast profiles built from shoppers’ data, Kroger is watching its customers and ripping them off.
Despite having promised to switch to better eggs, Kroger continues selling low-quality eggs from filthy, cruel conditions that would make anyone’s stomach churn.
A Kroger executive admitted under oath to gouging prices on milk and eggs above inflation during COVID. Kroger has also been found charging customers higher prices in towns where customers have no other store options.
Amanda’s all wrong.
Amanda Sourry has been on Kroger's board since 2021. Since then, Kroger has faced a price gouging investigation, a failed $25 billion merger blocked by the FTC, worker strikes, lawsuits for wage theft, and a consumer overcharging scandal.
In 2025, Kroger’s CEO resigned over some major ethical violation the company and board has been secretive about. The company is headed in the wrong direction, and Amanda Sourry is not the leader to correct its course.
Paid to Look the Other Way
