During a special session held earlier this month, the International Cocoa Council (ICC) said it has extended the duration of the seventh International Cocoa Agreement by two years to 30 September 2024.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, there is a growing demand for consumers to know where the ingredients in the products they purchase come from, says Philippe Bernay, Commercial Marketing Lead EMEA, Cargill Cocoa.
According to research by Barry Callebaut in the US, UK, Japan, France, and Germany, 75% of consumers think that single origin chocolate is more premium and more sustainable compared to standard chocolate.
UK supermarket Waitrose & Partners is working to stamp out deforestation from its supply chains and is ‘early’ on its journey to becoming forest positive, according to John Lewis Partnership’s Ethics & Sustainability Manager Samuel Lee-Gammage.
Ingredient supplier Tate & Lyle has launched a stevia sustainability programme in collaboration with environmental experts Earthwatch Europe. The company says the move will help the fast-growing stevia agri sector leverage sustainable practices as...
Pacha de Cacao is a 100% natural and nutritious cacao juice made from the fresh pulp of the cacao fruit. Marika van Santvoort founded the company in 2020 and she explains how she was introduced to this most nutritious by-product - and how, as an entrepreneur,...
People are paying more attention than ever to the conditions behind the products they buy as a way to make a difference in the world, according to new research findings released by GlobeScan and Fairtrade International.
Ethical raw chocolate manufacturer Lovechock BV is celebrating 10 years of being Plastic Free’, after making the move to renewable and compostable NatureFlex cellulose films for its packaging.
Palm oil and sustainability disagreements have caused ASEAN-EU trade relations to sour even further over the past year with a potential trade war on the line, even as the UK has moved to soften its stance to cement better ASEAN relations post-Brexit.
Happi Free From has launched a brand-new range of oat milk chocolate snacks in response to the growing demand for vegan and allergy-friendly sweet treats for those on-the-go moments.
New study released in time for World Chocolate Day shows farmers in the most impoverished circumstances benefit from growing cocoa rather than their non-certified counterparts.
A powerful cocoa coalition partnership has called on the European Commission to pursue the establishment of bilateral agreements between the European Union and cocoa-producing countries to contribute to establishing a fully sustainable cocoa supply chain.
The German Confectionery Industry (BDSI) has said it welcomes the German Bundestag national supply chain due diligence law and that it has been made clear that there are no additional liability risks for companies beyond the existing ones.
Mars is backing a new coalition that aims to support climate action through global supply chains. Kevin Rabinovitch, VP Global Sustainability, tells us that procurement is one of the most powerful tools in the company’s arsenal in the fight against climate...
Prolonged drought in southern Madagascar has prompted ethical chocolate company MIA, which sources its premium cocoa beans from the island, to commit an additional £500 of its 1 for Change impact fund to help with famine relief.
A coalition of global civil societies has renewed its calls for the elimination of child labour in the cocoa industry - in both consuming and producing nations.
In Germany, companies will be required to identify and account for human rights violations in global supply chains. While largely perceived to be a step in the right direction, some argue the new law falls short.
Tony’s Chocolonely has announced a new collaboration beer with BrewDog, the world’s first carbon negative brewer, as it continues to disrupt the chocolate industry and ‘make the world a better place, one beer and one bar at a time’.
Two years since its impressive launch in San Francisco, Barry Callebaut’s global brand, Cacao Barry, has announced the release of its first couverture chocolate made from 100% pure cacaofruit for chefs and food artisans.
The Hershey Company has released its 2020 Sustainability Report, which includes an in-depth review of its environmental and social initiatives during a year of ‘unprecedented challenges’.
Initially launched in Europe at the beginning of the year, Tony's Chocolonely’s Sweet Solution bars - which were originally ‘look-a-like’ limited-edition versions of notable chocolate bars made with Tony’s 5 Sourcing Principles for fairer chocolate...
Five of the UK’s largest branded manufacturers: Mars UK, Mondelēz International, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever, have collaborated to form a £1m ($1.41m) fund to help make flexible plastic recycling economically viable for recyclers and easier for consumers.
The new ‘Cadbury Farmer Resilience Fund’ designed to protect cocoa farmer livelihoods during the COVID-19 pandemic is providing grants that will empower thousands of women farmers to start small businesses and earn a decent living.
Luxury chocolate maker has announced it has reached “an important milestone,” after claiming that 100% of its cocoa beans are traceable after being externally verified by non-profit organisation, Earthworm Foundation.
Nestlé has announced it has joined other business leaders across the food industry to support ambitious action by the European Union (EU) to increase supply chain transparency and traceability for commodities that may be linked to deforestation.
Ferrara’s Black Forest, a leading candy and fruit snack brand inspired by real forests, has announced a partnership with singer Kelly Rowland to help spread the word of its ongoing effort to restore forests across the US that have been impacted by wildfires.
Gowland previously served as Executive Vice President for Latin America and Global Innovation at The Nature Conservancy. Before that, he spearheaded sustainability initiatives in the private sector, including stints at Unilever and Nike.
While the pandemic has raised interest in healthier eating to support overall health, this has also been mirrored by a growth in interest in comfort indulgence to ward of anxiety and stress. We look at current trends in our next webinar, on 1 June, and...
Colombian B4B chocolate manufacturer Luker Chocolate has received a Transformadores Award from RedEAmérica for its work supporting cocoa farmers and their communities via The Cacao Effect alliance.
Self-styled ‘disruptor brand’, Tony’s Chocolonely, has launched a new video series in conversation with five global changemakers who share their own ‘sweet solutions for social justice’.
The use of Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation Systems (CLMRS) to tackle child labour is expanding in the cocoa sector, and a new study by the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) provides a common operational definition of a CLMRS and sets out key...
Barry Parkin, the company's Chief Procurement and Sustainability Officer, is set to meet with members of the cocoa industry and the governments of Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire this week to discuss the Living Income Differential (LID) and to underscore...
Barry Callebaut says it is committed to ending deforestation in the cocoa and chocolate industry as part of its actions in the months and years ahead, which are highlighted in its the Cocoa & Forests Initiative (CFI) Progress Report 2020.
Over the past three decades, the rate of deforestation around the world has noticeably declined. This comes against an ever-increasing societal pressure from consumers and governments for more sustainable food products, which applies to everything from...
In a recently released new action plan, the global food manufacturer said workers in the palm oil industry - in particular migrant workers - are vulnerable to labour rights abuses, including forced labour.
Nutella manufacturer Ferrero has reiterated its commitment to sourcing sustainable palm oil that is 100% RSPO certified and segregated, and traceable to farms, the Italian confectionery group said in its Palm Oil Progress report for 2020.
In its latest Cocoa & Forests Initiative (CFI) Annual Report, Mondelēz International said it has distributed 712,771 trees across Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire in the from October 2019 to September 2020, with a total of 975,848 trees planted as part of...
KitKat, one of the world's most popular chocolate brands that is still produced at the former Rowntree factory in York where it was launched in 1935, has pledged to become carbon neutral by 2025.
The influential Cocoa Barometer, a biennial review of sustainability in the cocoa sector, is now available in French, Spanish and Dutch - in addition to the original language English version – to represent the major languages where cocoa is grown, traded...
