NGOs say human trafficking and child labor remain deep-seated problems of the cocoa industry as a Nestlé, ADM and Cargill court case stirs up old supply chain concerns.
Three Malian men have won the right to bring their civil child slavery case against Nestlé, Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) to Californian courts.
Certification is one of the most potent tools for chocolate makers to avoid serious cocoa shortages and to improve the lives of farmers, according to the burgeoning certified cocoa organization, UTZ Certified.
Mondelez International reached its 2015 goal of sourcing 100% RSPO-certified palm oil for all its purchases last year – two years ahead of schedule, the company has said.
Not quite the choc-pocalypse, but retail prices for chocolate are expected to rise in the face of cocoa price hikes, which could see the taste, shape and size of chocolate change significantly in the year ahead.
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.
Hershey has committed to purchasing 100% traceable and sustainably-sourced palm oil by the end of 2014. Greenpeace has welcomed the move, but has reservations about timelines and terminology.
The European Cococa Association (ECA) is campaigning to exclude cocoa and cocoa semi-finished products from voluntary and mandatory origin labelling foreseen in mooted EU legislation.
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.
Simply paying African cocoa growers more will not incentivize them to move away from the encroaching, more lucrative industries of palm and rubber, says Barry Callebaut.
The industry needs to think how farmers can be incentivized to grow organic cocoa because premiums do not currently compensate the productivity shortfalls from not using pesticides and fertilizer, according to Tradin Organic’s cocoa director.
Sustainable supple chain adviser Solidaridad demonstrates the impact unsustainable cocoa has on farmers' lives in a new multimedia art exhibition in the Netherlands.
