Half the major agriculture, fishery and forestry sustainability standards fail to show they improve the environment or the lives of poor farmers, new report claims.
Following news of Anthony Bourdain's recent death, Good & Evil chocolate bars were suddenly pulled from its producer Éclat Chocolate’s website as owner Christopher Curtin said the decision was made out of respect towards the celebrity chef.
A raft of promises and reports were published on this year’s World Day Against Child Labor, highlighting the extent of forced labor in the cocoa industry with calls for greater transparency to help solve the problem.
The International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) has identified 14,986 child labor cases on the cocoa farms in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana since 2012, but warned the reality could be a lot worse.
Hershey increased the percentage of its sustainable cocoa beans to 75% and reduced its packaging waste by 18.5 million pounds, or 74%, in 2017, according the company’s latest corporate social responsibility report.
The chocolate industry should support community-led buffer zones between tropical rainforest and cocoa farms to improve uneasy relations between farmers and their elephant neighbours, says a park manager in Ghana.
The president of the World Cocoa Foundation and Mondelēz’s Cocoa Life director discuss how the chocolate industry will tackle calls to guarantee cocoa farmers a living income.
Mondelēz, Cargill, Nestlé and Tony’s Chocolonely will discuss progress and challenges in implementing Child Labor Monitoring & Remediation Systems (CLMRS) in cocoa communities at a panel during the World Cocoa Conference.
Dandelion Chocolate will produce one of the first single origin Sierra Leonean chocolates as the country's cocoa sector looks to attract the international premium chocolate market.
The chocolate industry should report and reduce emissions in their cocoa logistics chain, which is contributing to air pollution and climate change, says The Smart Freight Centre.
The chocolate industry must look beyond cocoa alone to avert another big drop in cocoa prices, says the organizer of chocolate festival and cocoa conference Chocoa.
Sourcing to fair trade standards, such as UTZ, Rainforest Alliance and Fairtrade, is an important first step for chocolate makers towards cocoa sustainability, but will not necessarily bring farmers out of extreme poverty, say supply chain actors.
Chocolate companies should rethink cocoa sustainability programs to reverse low adoption rates for training and technology, says The Scientific Committee of the International Symposium on Cocoa Research.
Chocolate and cocoa companies should report more on the impact than the reach of their cocoa sustainability programs, according to a consultation paper by a group of NGOs.
Cocoa trader Touton has partnered with Ghanaian government agency Cocobod to curb deforestation in Ghana, where cocoa is the main driver of 3.2% of protected forest loss each year.
Significant progress is being made to combat unlawful child labor, but Indonesia’s declining crop and the falling cocoa price remain major challenges, says Mars' head of procurement.
Traceability from farm to first purchase, common definitions of protected areas and paying farmers a living income are three ways stakeholders say can help end cocoa-driven deforestation in West Africa, which is threatening endangered species.
Nigeria is the world’s sixth largest cocoa producer, but has scope to significantly boost its output and processing capacity, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
EU confectionery trade body Caobisco is encouraging its members to set a date by which they will source all cocoa and palm oil from a certified sustainable source.
The leaders of the Ivory Coast and Ghana have agreed to set up a joint industry body called The Ghana-Cote d'Ivoire Sustainable Cocoa Initiative to get better pay for farmers, combat cross-border smuggling and encourage further collaboration between...
Willie’s Cacao's owner talks about the benefits of direct trade with single cocoa estates and tips Nicaragua and Colombia as up and coming cocoa origins.
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).
Interview with counsel for six alleged child slaves
A lawyer representing six alleged child slaves working in cocoa in a class action against Nestlé, ADM and Cargill says the ramifications of the case on the chocolate industry could be huge.
Nugali co-founder Ivan Blumenschein discusses how packaging reflects product quality and he outlines the challenges of exporting from Brazil for the premium chocolatier.
Hot off the heels of winning silver at the International Chocolate Awards, Nugali is growing bigger and better with plans to open a visitor center next year, the launch of a Cupuaçu product and a Greenhouse-filled mini rainforest.
Cocoa and chocolate stakeholders highlight the advantages and potential pitfalls of high-yielding cocoa variety CCN-51. What part should it play in the industry’s drive for sustainability?
Chocolate makers are being pushed to join Dominican Republic’s plans to triple cocoa yields by 2027. The nation can become as valuable as Nacional, a prized cocoa variety from Ecuador, says the UNDP.
Future cocoa demand will be met by a thriving professionalized sector in Latin America as chocolate makers move away from a “structurally blighted” West African market, claims Hardman Agribusiness.
Cocoa and other goods procured by forced or child labor have been banned from entering the US under recently enacted legislation, removing an earlier exemption.
Chocolate companies outside the top six need to up their games on sustainable cocoa to help bring millions of cocoa farmers in West Africa out of poverty and secure the crop’s future, says Cadbury’s former head of cocoa sourcing.
Fourteen genomes of Colombian Fino de Aroma cocoa have been discovered and analyzed in research that could lead to unique flavors for the chocolate market.
