The event hosted by The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) is themed ‘Innovations in Cocoa Sustainability: People, Planet, Profit’
The meeting and roundtable sessions began yesterday and conclude later today.
Massimo Garavaglia, from Barry Callebaut spoke at the yesterday’s morning session along with spokespeople from the World Bank and WCF.
Representatives from the major chocolate manufacturers were present at Innovation Symposium roundtables in yesterday’s afternoon session.
Andy McCormick from Hershey discussed the company’s CocoaLink program, a mobile initiative which sends text messages directly to cocoa farmers in West Africa giving advice on farming practices.
Jeff Morgan of Mars also held a session on defining and measuring success in sustainable cocoa. Mars' efforts towards cocoa sustainability are available HERE.
Chris McGrath from Mondelez International gave a keynote address this morning while his colleague and director of sustainability at Mondelez Jonathan Horrell joined Cargill’s Taco Terheijden in a round table session on direct sourcing.
Nestlé’s Darrell High is among the speakers in another session focusing on child labor on cocoa in the Ivory Coast and Ghana, taking place later today.
The event is one of a series of separate conferences taking place today and involving major industry players.
Global commercial vice president for Mars Chocolate, Barry Parkin, is speaking today at the BSR Conference in New York discussing sustainability in Mars’ supply chain, while Mars is also present at another event on sustainability in Asia today.
Its chief sustainability officer Andrew Hobday is delivering a speech on shaping business practices to create a sustainable future at the Asia Pacific Sustainability Leadership Forum 2012.