Barry Callebaut has collaborated with Hershey to build a primary school in a western cocoa-growing region of Côte d’Ivoire – a move that should ensure children stay off the farms, Barry Callebaut says.
The International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) has slightly reduced its cocoa deficit forecast for the current crop year and says there are ample stocks for chocolate manufacturers, but a deficit next year could raise prices.
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...
A case alleging child labor abuses by Hershey in West Africa should be dismissed for lack of evidence, according to a Master’s report in the Court of Chancery in Delaware.
Cadbury will invest in trials to commercially cultivate cocoa in Australia for the first time as it sets out plans to upgrade its production facility in Tasmania.
Demand for sustainable cocoa is growing in mature markets and the Middle East is beginning to move away from compound chocolate, according to the head of Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate’s revamped sales team.
Fair Trade USA has finalized its labeling policy after over six months of consultation. NGO Fair World Project supports some of the changes but feels the policy does not go far enough to combat exploitative sugar sourcing.
Branded chocolate makers could get a sales boost by cutting prices for fairtrade products in developed markets and making items more readily available, according to an analyst from Euromonitor.
Cargill has become the first to supply UTZ Certfied Cocoa from Brazil to help manufacturers realize sustainability commitments in the South American market.
Hershey has launched an initiative to double the cocoa output in Nigeria, which is forecast to register a 20% decline this crop year due to adverse weather and diseases.
The good news: Around 15% of global palm oil produced in the past year was certified by the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The bad news: Only half of it earned a premium, which doesn’t sound like a great recipe for inspiring more producers...
Barry Callebaut has opened its first Cocoa Center of Excellence to teach best practices for sustainable cocoa farming in Côte d'Ivoire, the world’s number one cocoa-producing country.
The Archer Daniels Midland Company is in discussions to sell its cocoa processing operations. We find out how potential industry consolidation could affect the cocoa supply.
Corporate sustainability programs do not go far enough to stamp out child labor on cocoa farms - only third party certification will do, says a new campaign.
The chocolate and cocoa industry has pledged $3m in new funds to global cocoa sustainability as major firms including Mondelez, Hershey and Cargill talk about their new initiatives.
Fair Trade USA is considering much maligned changes to its labeling policy that would no longer require brands to source ingredients from a Fair Trade source even when one is available – is its draft policy fair or misleading?
Cocoa butter is estimated to be the fat source for around 40% of chocolate bars compared to 5% for cocoa butter equivalents (CBE) – but the balance could be shifting.
Lawrence T. Graham, president of the National Confectioners Association (NCA) said sugar industry reform is needed to keep the American confectionery industry competitive.
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.
Using palm oil certified as sustainable under the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is no longer enough to ensure companies are acting responsibly, claims the WWF following the adoption of new RSPO standards.
Fair Trade USA claims that draft changes to its labeling policy allowing brands with 20% certified ingredients to carry its logo are justified in composite products like chocolate because components like sugar are mainly sourced domestically in the US...
Not-for-profit organization Fair World Project has criticized changes to Fair Trade USA's labeling policy, which allows chocolate to carry the seal when it contains a high percentage of other ingredients like sugar that are not fairly traded.
Mondelez International has followed its peers Nestlé and Mars in making commitments to tackle gender inequality on cocoa farms after coming under fire from Oxfam and consumers.
Consumers in New Zealand are spending more on healthier and ethical chocolate variants - a move that has aided growth in the burgeoning sector, an analyst says.
The US’s largest natural foods retail cooperative PCC Natural Markets claims it has become the first grocer in the nation to sell chocolate made only from ethically sourced cocoa.
Nestlé has released a series of deforestation guides for commodity sourcing in partnership with Conservation International, to give a clearer idea of where deforestation is occurring globally.
A 10,000 ton shipment of fertilizer arrived in the principal cocoa growing nation Ivory Coast today as part of an industry-backed initiative to double productivity on cocoa farms.
A Rainforest Foundation ethical food product guide based on companies’ palm oil use unjustly discourages the use of palm oil even if it is sustainably sourced, claims the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
Mars Chocolate promises to assess conditions for women cocoa farmers and will sign up to the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles after Oxfam accused it of neglecting gender inequality.
The EU’s sugar quota fell three million metric tons short of demand in 2012 leading to an 11% price hike, but the deficit is not expected to increase due to stagnant demand for sugar-based foods and health concerns, according to market analysts Euromonitor...
ConfectioneryNews.com examines the sustainable cocoa commitments of one of the leading premium chocolate makers, Lindt, after it announced a big charitable investment last week.
Hershey has called attacks on its text messaging tips for farmers program CocoaLink “disingenuous” after a group of NGOs questioned the effectiveness of the project.
The industry has pledged $10m in new funds since 2010 to eliminate the worst forms of child labor, but a newly released report says the job is far from over.
Lindt & Sprüngli’s operating profit rose 10.3% in 2012 and the company has declared itself “partially unaffected” by the continuing economic downturn as consumers still seek quality chocolate in tough times.
Oxfam has called on the three biggest chocolate manufacturers to conduct independent audits on conditions for women on cocoa farms supplying their factories after finding evidence of unequal pay, discrimination and hunger.
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.
Associated British Foods – worst-in-class in an Oxfam report critical of 10 food giants for essentially operating under a corporate social responsibility (CSR) “veil of secrecy” – has hit back, slamming the report ‘s findings as “ridiculous”.
The Philippines can evolve as a top-quality cocoa source and serve the needs of growing demand for chocolate in Asia, according to a start-up company trading beans in the market.
Working from beans to chocolate or farmer to consumer brings with it a lot of advantages – including strong sector knowledge and the ability to identify and respond to market trends, says Cémoi.
Confectionery can overcome its unhealthy and industrially-produced image by marketing the authenticity of products and doing more to engage consumers, says the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute (GDI).
Barry Callebaut has unveiled new cocoa and chocolate products at ISM in Cologne, including Cameroon origin cocoa for baked goods, and single origin chocolate from Cameroon and Java.