The new premium line features Ghanaian chocolate in semisweet and ‘extra dark’ morsels. Plus, Nestlé boards the unicorn train with pink and blue-swirled chips.
Ferrero is to double the amount of Fairtrade cocoa it purchases and will buy Fairtrade sugar for the first time as it targets 100% ‘sustainable' sugar by 2020.
Mondelēz International plans to eventually source its entire cocoa supply from its Cocoa Life sustainability program, but says setting deadlines won't lead to meaningful impact on the ground.
Buying certified cocoa only from third party organizations such as UTZ Certified is now an essential part of doing business for all chocolate companies, not just the big ones, says Scandinavian confectioner Cloetta.
Fair Trade USA and UTZ Certified are piloting a collaborative cocoa certification scheme that they say will reduce costs for farmers looking to get dual certification.
UTZ Certified has begun a three-year initiative to develop a certified sustainable hazelnut supply in Turkey, which accounts for 70% of global production.
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.
UTZ Certified argues that guaranteeing cocoa farmers a premium distorts the market by discouraging them from adopting good agricultural practices as they are guaranteed a premium regardless of quality. Fairtrade International disagrees.
Cargill has become the first to supply UTZ Certfied Cocoa from Brazil to help manufacturers realize sustainability commitments in the South American market.
Nestlé USA announced at the National Confectioners Association (NCA) show that the company is expanding its Nestlé Cocoa Plan responsible sourcing program to its American product offerings.
Sale volumes of UTZ certified cocoa have grown exponentially in the past year driven by commitments by major players such as Mars, Hershey and Ferrero to source 100% sustainable cocoa.
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.
Cocoa certification brings more advantages than disadvantages for farmers and communities as improved yields and pay outweigh rule differences among certifiers and potentially unequal payments, a study has found.
Twice as much UTZ certified cocoa was sold to producers in 2011 compared to the previous year as demand for sustainable cocoa soared in Germany, according to the recently published UTZ Certified Annual Report 2011.
Mars chocolate bars in the Netherlands are to carry UTZ certified marks from Feburary 2012 as Mars sets targets for its cocoa to be fully sustainable worldwide by 2020.
Cargill’s Cocoa and Chocolate division is rolling out its Ivory Coast UTZ certification farmer training programme in Cameroon - a move the processor anticipates will dramatically boost sustainable cocoa output in the fourth largest producer country.
Cargill has received the first ever shipment of UTZ cocoa in North America, a move which will be followed by other sustainable cocoa developments in the region, said the certifying body, as momentum gathers in the US market.
Another milestone has been achieved in the UTZ certified sustainable cocoa programme, with the first-ever shipment of cocoa beans from Ghana that meets that standard’s economic, environmental and social criteria.
Chocolate maker Barry Callebaut’s decision to join the UTZ Certified sustainable cocoa programme will bolster efforts to scale up the project and help to get all parts of the supply chain on board, claims the non-profit group.
Producers in the world’s largest cocoa-producing country, Côte d’Ivoire, are taking part in the first independent audits in preparation for the UTZ Certified code of conduct; a programme that sets internationally recognised standards for responsible cocoa...
