Confectionery giant Nestlé is launching an ‘innovative income accelerator programme’ to tackle child labour risks in its cocoa supply chain, increase farmer income and achieve full traceability in its cocoa supply chain.
I am a cocoa farmer: Ama Ampomaa, Central Region, Ghana
In the fourth article in her occasional 'I am a cocoa farmer series', cocoa scholar Kristy Leissle talks to Ama Ampomaa, whose family has owned a cocoa farm for more than a century and today she and her siblings control around one hundred plots...
The Federal Association of the German Confectionery Industry (BDSI) has called on the special Living Income Differential (LID) levy due to be imposed on the next cocoa crop from West African producer countries Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, to be given to impoverished...
The October meeting in Berlin, Germany, will feature conversations focused on the importance of key partnerships, strong policy initiatives and joint investment in the future.
Producers from cocoa-growing regions in South America and the Caribbean are considering a proposal from Peru’s trade group at a conference this week in Colombia.
Following an investigation published in The Washington Post in June, two Democratic lawmakers requested that existing laws prohibiting such imports be enforced.
The World Cocoa Farmers Organization (WCFO) is asking Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire to reconsider setting a minimum cocoa price, while the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) is suprised the price was not higher.
The Ferrara Candy Co. brand has reformulated its chocolate recipe for all of its double-dipped products and many of its other chocolates, including double-dipped peanuts, chocolate-covered almonds and malt balls.
Tech can help cocoa farmers increase efficiency on their land and pinpoint trouble spots faster and with more accuracy, says the Rainforest Alliance, and it has launched a competition to find companies willing and able to build those tools.
Cocoa farmers’ voice in the chocolate industry is rising, says the World Cocoa Farmers Organization (WCFO), but a Declaration from farmers urges greater involvement in decision making on industry and government policy.
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.
Divine Chocolate has redesigned its packs for the first time in five years to add an embossed seal front of pack indicating cocoa farmers own the company.
Cocoa farmers in the top producing country Côte D’Ivoire earn around 91 US cents (CFA 568) per day, according to a study by Barry Callebaut and the French Development Agency (AFD).
The World Cocoa Farmers Organization (WCFO) and The International CoCoa Farmers Organization (ICCFO) have merged and are urging the cocoa and chocolate industry to support efforts to group farmers to ensure traceability.
Dispatches from the 3rd World Cocoa Conference in Dominican Republic
Cocoa producer living income can be increased by gradually introducing large estates in traditionally smallholder areas, says the International Cocoa Organization’s executive director.
An incoming international standard on sustainable cocoa will bring farmers ‘one big step below the poverty-line’ if it remains unchanged, argues a farmers’ group.
The World Cocoa Foundation’s acting president has defended farmer inclusivity under the industry-backed CocoaAction initiative and says efforts are not limited to yield increases.
Divine Chocolate has substantially increased group turnover to £12.6m (almost $18m) for the 12 months to June 2015 after merging its UK and US business units.
UK Fairtrade candy company Divine Chocolate hopes to grow in mainland Europe's leading retailers and is considering expanding its cocoa sourcing to create a single-origin range, says the firm's managing director.
The chocolate industry must embrace climate-smart agriculture to mitigate the shattering effects of rising temperatures on millions of cocoa farmers in the developing world, says Rainforest Alliance.
Chocolate makers must pay double the market price for cocoa farmers to receive a living income, says the CEO of Fairtrade as the organization gears up to review pricing.
‘You can’t say you’re sustainable when you’re not reaching the majority,’ says cocoa farmer body
The International Cocoa Farmers Organization has called on the chocolate industry to directly source from cocoa farmers and support efforts to reach 90% of farmers it says have been neglected in cocoa sustainability plans.
Cocoa farmers are largely excluded from decision making in the chocolate industry’s efforts to boost cocoa productivity but have a right to be heard, says a new international farmer’s organization aiming to stand up for disaffected voices.
Special Edition: Beyond 2020 - the future of sustainable cocoa
Business skills are as important to cocoa farmers as material addressed in field schools, says the program director of Olam and Blommer Chocolate’s independently-run joint venture project Grow Cocoa.
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.
