Oxfam will step up its campaign to improve the treatment of people and resources that form part of the supply chain of the world’s biggest food conglomerates, after it cast industry responses to its damning Behind the Brands report as ‘bland’ and ‘complacent’.
Unilever and Nestlé say Oxfam missed an opportunity for a wider and more comprehensive debate about food ethics after the NGO published a damning report on the supply chains of the world’s biggest food firms this week.
Associated British Foods – worst-in-class in an Oxfam report critical of 10 food giants for essentially operating under a corporate social responsibility (CSR) “veil of secrecy” – has hit back, slamming the report ‘s findings as “ridiculous”.
The Philippines can evolve as a top-quality cocoa source and serve the needs of growing demand for chocolate in Asia, according to a start-up company trading beans in the market.
Working from beans to chocolate or farmer to consumer brings with it a lot of advantages – including strong sector knowledge and the ability to identify and respond to market trends, says Cémoi.
Confectionery can overcome its unhealthy and industrially-produced image by marketing the authenticity of products and doing more to engage consumers, says the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute (GDI).
Barry Callebaut has unveiled new cocoa and chocolate products at ISM in Cologne, including Cameroon origin cocoa for baked goods, and single origin chocolate from Cameroon and Java.
Barry Callebaut has announced that it is switching to Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certified palm oil for compounds and filling at most plants.
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.
The Hershey Company has joined the advisory council of a new non-profit organization – the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) - that aims to develop industry-wide standards on sustainability.
Barry Callebaut’s joint venture cocoa partner Biopartenaire is now Rainforest Alliance Certified - a move that forms part of a wider puzzle of efforts towards sustainability, it said.
Action on sustainable cocoa must happen in two years, not ten and requires a holistic approach far beyond simple certification and increased production, the editor of a new report says.
Nestlé has opened an extended product technology center for confectionery in the UK, which will better enable it to develop products and packaging with sustainable materials.
The Rainforest Action Network (RAN) has urged Cargill to take clear, decisive action to ensure its palm oil suppliers commit to sustainable production, while Cargill has said that RAN allegations of malpractice are unfounded and untrue.
Greenpeace has published a scorecard rating palm oil producers’ sustainability efforts, in order to provide food and other consumer goods companies with better information about how their palm oil is produced.
Modern consumers want the best of all worlds when it comes to bakery and chocolate products, with quality & price, local & global, tradition & innovation, and pleasures & health existing together, according to results of a global survey...
Cargill has extended its sustainable cocoa program to Indonesia and plans to take preventative measure to turn ailing crops into high cocoa yielding money-spinners.
UTZ Certified has said it will aim for half of the world’s coffee, tea and cocoa to be produced sustainably by 2022, at a tenth anniversary seminar held in Amsterdam this week.
The Hershey Company has told this site that it plans to work with multiple organizations to meet its recent pledge to use only certified cocoa by 2020, and will communicate progress in annual reports.
Big Interview: Dave McLaughlin, World Wildlife Fund
Food manufacturers are beginning to realize that buying more GreenPalm certificates now might be the only way to stimulate enough production of sustainable palm oil to make fully traceable products economically viable in future, says the World Wildlife...
The Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform is making headway in preventing cocoa and coffee crop losses, improving supply and yields for manufacturers.
Armajaro Trading is showing ‘genuine commitment’ to cocoa labour issues by becoming the first cocoa trader to join the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), says the foundation.
The association of chocolate, biscuit and confectionery industries of Europe (CAOBISCO) has been discussing a multi-stakeholder approach to improving working conditions in hazelnut orchards in Turkey and boosting supply.
An investigation from the Fair Labor Association (FLA) has unearthed multiple serious violations of Nestlé’s supplier code, particularly through the use of children on cocoa farms.
Nestlé has denied allegations that it violated its commitments on advertising to children by co-branding a new range of candy bars with the Girl Scouts of the USA.
Partnerships will be crucial in tackling the supply chain challenges in the surging cocoa and chocolate industry – this was the key message at Barry Callebaut’s Chocovision conference.
Confectionery giant Mars has made ‘significant’ progress in fulfilling its pledge to purchase its cocoa supply from certified sustainable sources after it announced plans to purchase nearly 90,000 tons of sustainable cocoa in 2012.
The International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), has entered a public-private partnership with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to target 5,000 children in child-labour or at high risk of falling into child labour on cocoa farms in West Africa.
A division of the World Bank has acquired a stake in cocoa trader Armajaro Trading to support sustainable farming practices and improve traceability within its supply chains.
Finnish company Fazer has set a target to certify its entire cocoa supply by 2017 to ensure its cocoa comes from traceable sources and is free from the worst forms of child labour.
In light of current economic difficulties organic consumers are looking elsewhere for foods, and sustainable products resonate with their core values, according to the MD of Cert ID.
The EU resolution on child labour in the cocoa sector passed last week fails to implement legally binding measures on a confectionery industry that has been “dragging its feet”, according to the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF).
Barry Callebaut is investing €33.2 (CHF 40m) over the next 10 years in a cocoa sustainability initiative it hopes will boost farm productivity, increase quality and improve farmer livelihoods.
The European Parliament today gave its consent to the 2010 International Cocoa Agreement and passed a resolution on child labour in the cocoa sector in a move that will benefit manufacturers, according to industry bodies.
Nestlé has leapt to the defence of its Nesquik milk-based drinks brand, after the Children’s Food Campaign (CFC) lodged a ‘super complaint’ with the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), complaining that well-known beverage and food brands were targeting...
The chocolate and cocoa industry has backed an EU resolution to tackle child labour in cocoa production and warns children may still have produced cocoa that is 100% certified.
