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Blommer devotes some of Founder’s Reserve profits to building wells in Cote D’Ivoire

Wells to help 300 families in villages of Baleyo, Koffibakro.

By Alyse Thompson-Richards

Blommer Clean Water — Blommer Chocolate Co. has devoted some of the profits from its Founder's Reserve line to build wells in cocoa-producing communities in Cote D'Ivoire. Submitted photo.

Blommer Chocolate Co. has launched a new initiative under its sustainability program to further support cocoa farmers in Cote D’Ivoire.

Created in 2015, the Livelihood, Infrastructure, Food & Technology program — LIFT Cocoa — aims to impact the daily lives of cocoa farmers by providing access to life’s basic needs, including clean water, nutritional food, health care and basic education. With this new initiative within the LIFT program, a portion of the proceeds from Blommer’s Founder’s Reserve line of chocolate has built the infrastructure to provide clean drinking water to villagers in Cote D’Ivoire.

To launch this initiative, Founder’s Reserve funded the building of water wells with borehole pumps that have begun providing clean water to thousands of individuals in Baleyo and Koffibakro. Blommer chose these villages because most of the current water supply is collected from surrounding ponds and hand-dug wells that are exposed to contamination and to drying out during the dry season. The planned wells will provide safe drinking water to 300 families, representing nearly 3,000 people.

“Blommer has long been a steward in pioneering sustainable cocoa farming and advancing farmers’ livelihoods around the globe,” said Steve Blommer, v.p. of business development. “As an industry leader, we believe sustainability efforts in cocoa communities provide value at every touch point in the supply chain, through improved and consistent product quality and a sustainable future for cocoa farming families.”

As a global cocoa processor and ingredient chocolate supplier, Blommer Chocolate Co.’s sustainability initiatives focus on farmer support in their endeavor to achieve economic viability for generations to come, as well as making accessible the infrastructure necessary for a thriving community.

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Alyse Thompson-Richards has held many positions with BNP Media, first serving as an intern at Candy Industry magazine in summer 2012. She joined Candy Industry's staff full time as associate editor in August 2016 after a few years at newspapers in West-Central Illinois, becoming managing editor in March 2019. Alyse has also served as managing editor of Cannabis Products magazine since March 2019, and is currently the editor-in-chief of Food Engineeering magazine. She has bachelor’s degrees in journalism and Spanish from Western Illinois University.