A group of NGOs, including the VOICE Network, Solidaridad and Oxfam, are encouraging chocolate makers to set a minimum price for cocoa and to eventually move to a flexible premium system.
Barry Callebaut is one step closer to its goal of sourcing fully sustainable cocoa by 2025 as its chocolate cups and decorations making subsidiary, Mona Lisa, has joined the Cocoa Horizons program.
Reporting effective approaches to tackle deep-rooted poverty and child labor in the cocoa sector should take precedence over shock headlines, writes ConfectioneryNews’ editor.
FoodNavigator approached industry and campaigners for their reflections on the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)'s 2016 Impact Report. What are the challenges and opportunities in the next 12 months?
The Food Reform for Sustainability and Health (FReSH) programme is aiming to bring private and public sector together to achieve the UN's sustainable development goals for 2030, an achievement that could bring over €2 trillion to the food industry.
Unilever brands known as sustainable are growing 30% faster than others
A new report by industry giant Unilever shows that consumers' belief in the social or environmental welfare of brands hugely affects their purchasing decisions.
Back in 2014 I interviewed Hans Jöhr, who at the time was corporate head of agriculture at Nestlé. We had a (refreshingly) open discussion about certification schemes. Some of them are “cheating consumers” and “cannot help farmers be better farmers per...
Greenpeace's damning report on Malaysian palm oil supplier IOI, just one month after its membership of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was renewed, could be damaging for the certifier, according to one sustainability consultant.
Mars is working on packaging developments including a ‘fresh pack’ without an aluminum layer after missing its goal of making 100% of its packaging recyclable or recoverable by 2015.
From Fairtrade to UTZ, Rainforest Alliance to RSPO, the number of third party certification schemes is on the rise. But alongside this proliferation of consumer–facing logos is the growing numbers of companies developing their own sustainable sourcing...
Palm oil supplier IOI Corporation Berhad has ditched plans to sue the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), saying it has “engaged” with customers, NGOs and the RSPO to resolve the matter.
Food and drink companies should adopt negative labelling on less sustainable products if they want to encourage customers to choose more eco-friendly alternatives, according to a Wageningen University researcher.
GreenPalm sustainable palm oil certificates will now offer buyers traceability back to the mill, meaning it is now the only fully inclusive supply chain open to all growers, says the trading platform. But campaigners are still calling it a "false...
The UK government is calling on manufacturers to use local county of origin labelling on its products – but unlike in Italy such measures would be voluntary.
A sustainable logo is known to add value to a brand – so why are so many manufacturers not showing their Fairtrade, organic or sustainable credentials?
A growing trend for sustainability certifications and on pack ‘branding’ could mean manufacturers are missing the wider point of sustainability issues and may confuse consumers so much they no longer care.
The food industry – the most water-intensive business on earth - is unprepared for global water shortages, according to a report which ranks the best and worst offending companies for their water management.
The world’s biggest food firm, Nestlé, has put reducing food waste firmly on its agenda, announcing plans to help further prevent the issue of food losses and waste around the world at the Save Food Congress.
A single, unifying sustainability standard would be helpful for consumers – but it’s a long way off, says Organic Monitor president and founder Amarjit Sahota.
By Antoine Boudib, Managing Director, Akuafo Adamfo Marketing Company Ltd, a Finatrade Company
Cocoa buying companies are the main intermediaries between the chocolate industry and farmers and should not be forgotten in the pursuit of sustainable cocoa, writes one of the largest licensed cocoa buyers in West Africa Finatrade.
ConfectioneryNews will be reporting from ISM and ProSweets 2015 next month in Cologne where the organizers anticipate growing interest in organic products, natural ingredients and sustainable packaging.
The chocolate industry’s biggest players will discuss how to move forward on cocoa sustainability at the World Cocoa Foundation’s meeting in Copenhagen next week. ConfectioneryNews will be there to bring you the latest.
A heated panel debate over the reality of a consumer industry based on 100% sustainable palm oil broke out at the European Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil held in London last week.
Food businesses and consumers don’t understand the impact emerging economies could face if pressure to source 100% sustainable palm oil builds too quickly, Marks & Spencer’s (M&S) sustainable development manager Fiona Wheatley claims.
Food and drink firms must be more proactive at assessing the sustainability of their products and ingredients, rather than reacting to market interest, according to Leatherhead Food Research expert Emma Gubisch.
By Winnie Byanyima, executive director, Oxfam International
Food and drink companies can have a big influence over sustainability and ethical issues in their supply chains - and have the power to change them rapidly. One year on from Oxfam's first Behind the Brands sustainability scorecard, nine of the ten...
Unilever and Ferrero both said they would strengthen their commitments to sustainable palm oil this week – a sign of an industry in transformation, according to Catapult, an organisation working to end trade in commodities linked to deforestation.
Food manufacturing giant Unilever will work with international non-profit Solidaridad to drive the sustainable development of the sugar cane industry in Central America.
French and German palm oil industries and users have joined a handful of other European countries in committing to source all palm oil sustainably with national pledges announced at the European Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) summit in Berlin...
Borregaard's vanillin and ethyl vanillin plant in Norway has acquired the food safety certification FSSC22000 to distinguish it from a rise in competitors.
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.
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.
Mondelez International, Nestlé, Ferrero and Mars have all signed the Abidjan Cocoa Declaration and pledged to create a sustainable cocoa industry that guarantees a fair deal for farmers.
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.
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.
