Sustainabilty

Lindt & Sprüngli expands cocoa Farming Programme

22-Jun-2022 - Last updated on 22-Jun-2022 at 09:46 GMT

Lindt said it considers tackling child labour “a priority”. Pic: Lindt & Sprüngli

Publication of its 2021 Sustainability Report Lindt shows progress towards group’s sustainability strategy.

The Swiss-based chocolate company said its 12th report has been prepared with reference to the GRI Standards 2021, a leading global standard for sustainability reporting.

Highlights include the expansion of Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Programme to seven cocoa countries of origin – with more than 91,000 farmers participating in the Farming Programme in 2021.

Since 2020, 100% of Lindt’s cocoa beans have been sourced through the Programme. As of 2021, 64% of the cocoa beans equivalent (beans, butter, powder, and chocolate) have been sourced through sustainability programmes.

Lindt stated its Farming Programme aims to ‘create decent and resilient livelihoods for cocoa farmers, their families, and communities’.

Child labour in cocoa

The luxury chocolatier said it considers tackling child labour “a priority”. The Group’s goal is that 100% of cocoa from child labour risk countries]will be sourced from farming households covered by a Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation System (CLMRS) by 2025.

A CLMRS includes training and awareness-raising for farming households and community members, as well as monitoring and remediation of child labour.

As part of the CLMRS, Lindt said it has completed an external stakeholder review of its Community Child Protection System (CCPS) implementation guidance document in 2021, developed a monitoring and reporting methodology, and began capacity building of Programme staff at the supplier level.

The CCPS guidance document provides clear guidelines to cocoa suppliers and a framework for individual case management as well as systemic preventive measures. In addition, the Group recently became an official member of the Child Learning and Education Facility (CLEF) - an innovative public-private partnership focused on scaling investments to systematically improve access to quality education.

“Access to quality education for all children is at the heart of a holistic child protection concept. Through our new membership in the CLEF initiative, public and private stakeholders jointly invest into the education system to collaboratively contribute to creating a better future for the children of cocoa farmers and with the aim to prevent child labour at the landscape level,” said Martin Hug, CFO Lindt & Sprüngli Group.