The Kinder maker says it can map 50% of its cocoa supply back to farm gate to date.
Deforestation threatens the cocoa sector: Ferrero
In a news release, the company said it was dedicated to a zero deforestation cocoa supply chain.
“Deforestation threatens to undermine the very resilience of the cocoa sector itself and with it the livelihoods of the millions of smallholders who depend on it.
“There is cocoa farming happening in High Conservation Value (HCV) areas in West Africa, where farmers have been growing cocoa for many years,” it said.
The chocolate maker said mapping would allow it to identify areas where it can intervene with reforestation and distribution of shadow trees.
The company has signed the New York Declaration on Forests by the United Nations and endorses the high carbon stock HCS Approach, a methodology for distinguishing forest areas that should be protected from degraded lands that may be developed.
Letter of intent
Ferrero also signed the Cocoa and Forests Initiative letter of intent in March 2017.
Other signatories include Mondelēz International, Nestlé, Lindt, Hershey, Barry Callebaut, Ritter Sport, Mars and Cargill, among others.
Ferrero expects the Cocoa and Forests Initiative will set a cutoff date by which time companies should have traceable sourcing to farm level.
Partnerships
It is working with campaign organization Mighty Earth to help the chocolate firm reach its Cocoa and Forests Initiative goals.
The Italian confectioner also recently partnered with non-profit Sedex to develop social audits of Ferrero’s global supply chain.
Ferrero has separately teamed with Airbus Defense and Space on a project to map its palm oil supply chain via satellites, allowing it to monitor land-use change over time.
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