Mars Wrigley has announced a $10m investment to support women’s empowerment in cocoa-growing communities, working with CARE to build on the success and learnings of their Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) initiative.
Washington Post reports on action from human rights group to petition US government to ban cocoa imports from the West African country because of child labor and trafficking concerns.
The Jacobs Foundation says quality education can help improve the situation of children in cocoa communities in West Africa – but is seeking support from cocoa and chocolate industry.
137 children ranging in ages from six to 17 came from the nearby West African countries of Nigeria, Benin, Ghana and Togo, local news media said, as US Senate investigation into Côte d'Ivoire's cocoa supply chain continues.
Two countries say they ‘reaffirm commitment to eradicating child labor and deforestation in cocoa and will collaborate with all stakeholders to promote and sustain the cocoa industry,’ after meeting with execs at WCF Partnership Meeting in Berlin.
World for Brexit (W4B) specifically calls out cocoa tariffs on its homepage, but FullFact.org – and World Trade Organization data – refutes the alleged 30% duty.
Following an investigation published in The Washington Post in June, two Democratic lawmakers requested that existing laws prohibiting such imports be enforced.
Two countries instead agree on 'additional' $400 income for farmers if price falls too low, after meeting in Abidjan breaks up without agreement from cocoa processors.
Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA), an agricultural development nonprofit, signed a memorandum of understanding with social impact investor Oikocredit to support financial management and sustainability in cocoa cooperatives through a USDA-led...
Farmer organizations will be guaranteed a higher price for cocoa sales on Fairtrade terms, as part of foundation’s strategy towards enabling living incomes it said. Changes will come into effect October 2019.
World’s biggest cocoa producer announces price increase for this season’s main cocoa crop, but Ghana announces no change to price, angering its farmers.
Zoë Genova, membership & outreach associate for the World Cocoa Foundation, samples the sights, sounds and tastes of her first field trip to Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana’s cocoa growing communities.
SAF-Cacao is one of several exporters with outstanding bank loans, after running into financial trouble as a result of the crisis-hit 2016-17 growing season.
World’s top producer will start destroying cocoa trees and move farmers to other areas, as well as using waste from cocoa pods to create energy in south of country.
The chocolate industry should report and reduce emissions in their cocoa logistics chain, which is contributing to air pollution and climate change, says The Smart Freight Centre.
The leaders of the Ivory Coast and Ghana have agreed to set up a joint industry body called The Ghana-Cote d'Ivoire Sustainable Cocoa Initiative to get better pay for farmers, combat cross-border smuggling and encourage further collaboration between...
The world’s third largest grinder Olam has inaugurated a cocoa processing factory in San Pedro that partly runs on energy created from waste cocoa shells.
Hershey has partnered with its supplier Cargill to bring its cocoa sustainability program to the Côte d’Ivoire, helping farmers achieve UTZ certification.
Chocolate companies must know what truly constitutes cocoa child labor to be able to tackle the issue, according to the International Cocoa Initiative, which has unveiled a new strategy to combat the problem.
Godiva owner Yildiz Holding has made one of its first social investments in sustainable cocoa by sponsoring Cémoi, Blommer Chocolate and Delfi’s Processors Alliance for Cocoa Traceability and Sustainability (PACTS) program.
A sustainable cocoa supply chain is reliant on women, who provide a large portion of the labor and often invest earnings on items that benefit their community, says Mars Chocolate in a response to harsh criticism.
The global cocoa deficit for the 2012/13 crop year was worse than previously expected, according to revised figures from the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO), which has tripled its estimate.
UTZ Certified argues that guaranteeing cocoa farmers a premium distorts the market by discouraging them from adopting good agricultural practices as they are guaranteed a premium regardless of quality. Fairtrade International disagrees.
Cadbury will invest in trials to commercially cultivate cocoa in Australia for the first time as it sets out plans to upgrade its production facility in Tasmania.
The chocolate and cocoa industry has pledged $3m in new funds to global cocoa sustainability as major firms including Mondelez, Hershey and Cargill talk about their new initiatives.
Sale volumes of UTZ certified cocoa have grown exponentially in the past year driven by commitments by major players such as Mars, Hershey and Ferrero to source 100% sustainable cocoa.
Cocoa processing is increasingly moving to origin countries, particularly those in regions where chocolate consumption is rising such as Brazil and Indonesia, according to ADM Cocoa’s head of innovation.
Barry Callebaut’s innovation department has revealed that the level of cocoa flavanols, which are associated with a string of positive health effects, vary depending on where beans are sourced.
A 10,000 ton shipment of fertilizer arrived in the principal cocoa growing nation Ivory Coast today as part of an industry-backed initiative to double productivity on cocoa farms.
Hershey has called attacks on its text messaging tips for farmers program CocoaLink “disingenuous” after a group of NGOs questioned the effectiveness of the project.
The industry has pledged $10m in new funds since 2010 to eliminate the worst forms of child labor, but a newly released report says the job is far from over.
Oxfam has called on the three biggest chocolate manufacturers to conduct independent audits on conditions for women on cocoa farms supplying their factories after finding evidence of unequal pay, discrimination and hunger.
The chocolate industry is behind in tackling some cocoa supply issues and must work more closely to avert shortages, according to Mars’ head of sustainability.
