The European Union has held its second Cocoa Roundtable Dialogue with Ghanaian stakeholders to discuss the environmental sustainability of cocoa production, while Cote d’Ivoire says quick compliance with broad legislation may pose challenges.
Ethan Budiansky, the World Cocoa Foundation’s Director of Environment, shares some of the findings from the CFI’s latest reports and explains why ‘getting more trees in the ground’ is important.
The use of Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation Systems (CLMRS) to tackle child labour is expanding in the cocoa sector, and a new study by the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) provides a common operational definition of a CLMRS and sets out key...
Consumer demand for CBD products has soared during lockdown, according to the Association for the Cannabinoid Industry (ACI), which estimates the sector will generate £690 million in annual sales this year, above a previous forecast of £526 million.
Barry Parkin, the company's Chief Procurement and Sustainability Officer, is set to meet with members of the cocoa industry and the governments of Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire this week to discuss the Living Income Differential (LID) and to underscore...
Barry Callebaut says it is committed to ending deforestation in the cocoa and chocolate industry as part of its actions in the months and years ahead, which are highlighted in its the Cocoa & Forests Initiative (CFI) Progress Report 2020.
The International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) and its members are pledging to scale up efforts in the fight against child labour, covering 540,000 cocoa-growing households in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana by the end of this year.
Pork DNA has been found in two confectionery products in Bangladesh, according to a study analysing 42 imported confectionery samples purchased from the Dhaka region.
The Critical Infrastructure Supply Chain Council (CISCC) says the supply chain challenges thrown up by the coronavirus pandemic – rather than seen as a negative – show the way to build up resilience for future crisis response.
The influential Cocoa Barometer, a biennial review of sustainability in the cocoa sector, is now available in French, Spanish and Dutch - in addition to the original language English version – to represent the major languages where cocoa is grown, traded...
Olam Food Ingredients (OFI) claimed its cocoa division has achieved 100% child labour and deforestation monitoring in its direct global supply chain, covering almost 183,000 households and 12,000 suppliers, respectively.
Fairtrade urges EU to implement regulation to recognise the right to living income in cocoa sector in any forthcoming human rights due diligence regulation, as European Cocoa Association calls for an ‘enabling environment’ across the industry.
The world's largest food and beverage companies and their suppliers must do more to create an equitable and sustainable food system for all, says Oxfam.
Company also announces strategic partnership with Save the Children through a €8m project to further scale and strengthen activities to protect children.
The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), representing some of the world’s largest food makers and retailers, has launched a new framework for the implementation of human rights due diligence systems. This aligned approach is a ‘major victory’ in the fight against...
Organisers have announced that the fifth World Cocoa Conference which was scheduled to take place this year from 23 to 26 May, has been moved to 2022, because of the ongoing global health emergency following the COVID-19 outbreak.
The annual Easter Scorecard, published by Be Slavery Free, Green America, Inkota, Mighty Earth, and National Wildlife Federation, which surveys chocolate companies and cocoa suppliers, reveals many of the chocolate manufacturers and retailers are still...
Julianne Ponan, founder of allergen free Creative Nature Superfoods, advises others in the SME sector to remain open to adapting following the UK’s departure from the EU.
William Reed Business Media, publisher of The Grocer, ConfectioneryNews and BakeryandSnacks, has confirmed that its Food & Drink Shows will go ahead this July at Birmingham’s NEC following the UK government’s ‘Roadmap out of Lockdown’ announcement.
Memorandum of Understanding signed by Dutch Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa, Belgium’s Beyond Chocolate, the German Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa and the Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa agreeing to closer collaboration, Chocoa21 delegates told.
Many consumers are aware of the nutritional value so-called superfoods have, but few can commit to a daily diet packed with turmeric, ashwagandha, and elderberry (and even fewer enjoy the taste). This hangup was the impetus for Grummies, a brand of gummies...
Mondelēz-owned Intercontinental Great Brands has filed a trademark infringement case in the Delhi High Court against Parle Products over allegedly copying Mondelez’s iconic Oreo cookie.
Following reports of serious issues in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana’s cocoa supply chains, the EU and the US Labor Department have both announced financial aid to help the two countries.
Responsible design of supply and value chains and sustainability are important issues for the German confectionery industry, as it calls again for EU-wide legislation.
UPL, a global leader in sustainable agriculture products and solutions, announced it has joined the European Cocoa Association (ECA) as an associate member. We talk to Florent Clair, UPL’s Sustainability Co-Ordinator, about the company's long history...
Dutch ethical brand Tony’s Chocolonely has defended its reputation for making ‘100% slave free chocolate the norm’ after it was struck off a list of companies that use ethically sourced cocoa by the American organization Slave Free Chocolate.
Multi-national cocoa companies Nestlé, Cargill, Barry Callebaut USA LLC, Mars, Olam, Hershey and Mondelēz have been named as defendants in a federal class action lawsuit in the United States on behalf of eight Malian boys who have alleged they were used...
Mars Wrigley, part of Mars, Incorporated, has published its cocoa human rights report with renewed efforts to address root causes of child and forced labour in the cocoa sector.
Nestlé has revealed it will change its farming practices with suppliers in the way its food is produced and will transition to regenerative agriculture to benefit nature and improve farmer incomes in order to reach its 2050 net-zero climate goal.
The German family-owned company Alfred Ritter GmbH & Co. KG, makers of Ritter Sport, is at loggerheads with the country’s regulators over a new chocolate bar that can’t be labelled chocolate because it contains no sugar.
The German confectionery industry has reported a marked drop in exports to the UK since the beginning of the year as companies, on both sides, struggle with export documents, longer delivery times and the need to re-think supply chains due to the impact...
The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) is looking for a new president to replace Richard Scobey, who will leave on 1 May to become the new Executive Director of environmental organisation TRAFFIC.
The Cocoa Association of Asia (CAA) has announced it has elected Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate’s Commercial Director for Asia-Pacific, Alvin Lee, as the new chairman of the Association for the next two years, with immediate effect.
The International Cocoa Organization (ICCO), in partnership with the French institution Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), has announced its second edition of the International Symposium on Cocoa Research (ISCR) will take...
Tony’s Chocolonely has alleged that some of the industry’s big chocolate makers have put pressure on UK supermarkets to remove the Dutch company’s ‘Sweet Solution’ bars because “they didn’t want to be associated with the claims of illegal labour in the...
Olam International Limited, one of the world’s leading food, cocoa and agri-businesses, has extended the application deadline for its bi-annual innovation prize to March 15, 2021, citing the challenges of COVID-19.
The Accessible Soils And Sustainable Environments (ASASE) will be working towards tackling deforestation and working to rehabilitate ageing cocoa farms and restore the country’s natural forests.
By Robert Guite and Abby Meyer, Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP
If your company sells any vanilla-flavored food or beverage product, then you are probably aware of the innumerable class action cases that have been filed over the last 18 months attacking these products – 67 cases by our count. Here, we trace the history...
Dutch ethical brand Tony’s Chocolonely is inviting international chocolate makers to join its transparent supply chain platform in order to create a more sustainable cocoa industry.
The iconic cookies sold to raise funds for the celebrated Girl Scouts of the United States of America purportedly contain palm oil that is linked to child labour practices, according to a new report.
There are new rules for businesses and citizens from 1 January 2021 – and companies in the food sector have been urged to act now to be ready if new trading rules between the UK and EU come into force at the beginning of 2021.
Barry Callebaut has announced that Francisco Migoya is to become its USA Cacao Barry Ambassador, as the lead chef for cocoa farming sustainability in support of the Cocoa Horizons Foundation.
After two decades of failed interventions across the cocoa sector, cocoa farming communities are still battling the effects of poverty, child labour and deforestation, the new report highlights.
Jutta Urpilainen (European Union Commissioner for International Partnerships) delivered a keynote address to the World Cocoa Foundation’s Partnership Meeting mapping out the EC's new multi-stakeholder dialogue to improve sustainability in the cocoa...
‘Fighting Child Labor in Cocoa: Building Partnerships & Scaling Up Action’ was an important session of the first day of the WCF’s 2020 Partnership Meeting, where the ICI’s Nick Weatherill and other panel members attempted to put into context the vexing...
This year’s World Cocoa Foundation Partnership Meeting kicked off online earlier today with a keynote opening address from its President, Richard Scobey.
The Fairtrade Foundation has cautiously welcomed the UK government’s new Environment Bill, which includes measures prohibiting UK firms from selling products linked to illegal deforestation overseas.