Cocoa-certifying organization UTZ has intensified its partnership with the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), an organization focused on protecting children in cocoa-growing communities.
The company is focused on improving its environmental sustainability, strengthening local communities, providing children with the nutrition they need to learn and grow, responding to consumers’ desire for greater transparency and simple ingredients, and offering an engaging and flexible workplace for its employees.
Olam International has updated the Olam Farmer Information System (OFIS), giving 100,000 smallholder farmers access to detailed information about their farms.
Environmental advocacy group Greenpeace has suspended its campaign against palm oil supplier IOI Group after the Malaysian firm announced a commitment to address deforestation and exploitation in its supply chain.
With all the recent gyrations going on in the confectionery industry, I thought it might be wise to get some outside perspective. Periodically I get a publication called U.S. Talking Points from Rabobank, written by senior analyst Nick Fereday. It’s essentially a brief on recent events affecting the food and beverage industries, peppered with Fereday’s observations.
Citing consumer demand for nutritional transparency and choice, the Hershey Co. has announced plans to update front-of-pack calorie labels and make more of its standard- and king-sized items with 200 calories or fewer.
Cargill has established a licensed buying company in Ghana, allowing the ingredient supplier to directly source cocoa from certified farmers and maintain a traceable purchasing model.