Development – Page 6 – Michael Niemann

April 14, 2009

Mars Commits to Sustainability … Sort Of

I’ve taken a little time with this post to process some older information I had. But here it is:

Mars has committed to sourcing sustainable cocoa. According the company’s press release, Mars is “aiming to certify its entire cocoa supply as being produced in a sustainable manner, by 2020.” The firm plans to partner with the Rainforest Alliance (RA) which will provide the certification services. Well, at least for some of the cocoa. Here’s the press release again: “By 2020, the goal of the collaboration is to achieve Rainforest Alliance certification of 100,000 metric tonnes of cocoa annually for use in Mars products, a significant portion of Mars total cocoa requirements.” No word what significant means. Finally, the press release mentions that Mars will continue to work with UTZ Certified to achieve certification for cocoa produced in West Africa.

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April 1, 2009

The Toledo Cocoa Growers Association

I’m finally back from a wonderful visit to the Toledo Cocoa Growers Association (TCGA) in Punta Gorda, Belize. The name may not say much to most chocolate lovers, but it this cooperative that provides the beans for Green & Black’s Maya Gold chocolate bar. It was one of the earliest cooperatives certified for fairtrade cocoa.

The TCGA has developed into a viable organization, despite its troubles beginnings in the mid-1980s. It was founded in response to the Hershey-Hummingbird project, an attempt to restart cocoa production in Belize. When cocoa prices collapsed in the early 1990s, Hershey abandonned the project and left the farmers holding the bag.

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March 19, 2009

Cocoa Processing Accelerates in Ghana

The Cocoa Processing Company (CPC) of Ghana posted a large increase in revenue. According to an article in the UK’s Guardian, the CPC will increase its revenue fivefold from $42.5 million to $208 million. CPC’s director Richard Amarh Tetteh indicated that total tonnage processed will amount to 64,500 tons for the current cocoa year.
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March 4, 2009

Dairy Milk Chocolate to go Fairtrade

Cadbury, the British chocolate maker, has announced that it will pursue fairtrade certification for Dairy Milk, its best-selling chocolate bar. Cadbury and the Fairtrade Foundation, the British arm of the the global fairtrade movement announced yesterday that the certification will be achieved by the Summer of 2009.

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February 20, 2009

The Gates Foundation Discovers Cocoa Farmers

With much fanfare, many news outlets announced the decision by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to donate $23 million to the World Cocoa Foundation. The usual supporters of the WCF have pledged to chip in a similar amount in the form of cash and in-kind contributions bringing the total up to $40 million. That’s a lot of money and more than has been spent on cocoa in West Africa by the industry since the Harkin-Engel protocol was signed in 2001.

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