Tell Nestlé to pay farmers a fair minimum price on cocoa

How far would you go for a cheap chocolate treat?

Would you deny cocoa farmers a living wage, leaving them with little choice but to pull their children out of school to work the fields so their family can survive?

Ask Nestlé and Pladis ... Along with French sugar and cocoa trader giant SucDen, the makers of KitKat bars, Godiva chocolates, and McVitie's biscuits won’t support a new policy that would lift millions of farmers out of extreme poverty.

All cocoa farmers worldwide deserve a fair shot and a living income. If this momentum fails, there probably won’t be another opportunity for decades to come. That’s why together, we need to act right now to name and shame the companies who’d rather hoard chocolate profits than ensure their workers are decently paid.

Tell Nestlé, Pladis, and SucDen to support a fair price for cocoa farmers in West Africa and around the world!

The governments of Ghana and Ivory Coast took the historic initiative to work together to raise the minimum cocoa price. If these West African nations that make up 63% of the globe’s cocoa supply succeed, other chocolate-producing countries will likely follow suit.

Farmers in Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Nigeria, Indonesia, Ecuador and a few other countries in Latin America produce almost all of the world’s cocoa, but corporations like Nestlé and Pladis in the 100 billion dollar a year chocolate industry want to get away with paying them pennies for their efforts.

The result of that cost-cutting? When asked this year, Nestlé couldn’t guarantee the chocolate in its KitKat and Aero bars was produced without child labour. This has to end NOW.

Tell Nestlé, Pladis, and SucDen to pay farmers their fair share: Support a fair minimum price on cocoa - worldwide!

This new West African cocoa price -- about $2600 per tonne, more fair for farmers than even Rainforest Alliance -- is a huge step towards keeping chocolate companies’ greed in check and ensuring farmers won’t have to put their kids to work.

Other chocolate giants like Uncommon Cacao and Valhrona have already come out with some support for a better global floor price. Why won’t Nestlé, Pladis, and SucDen do the same?

Chocolate should be a sweet reward to brighten up our day, not a bitter blight on our conscience. As consumers, we have the right to demand better. It worked for us last year, when SumOfUs members like you helped get major chocolate companies to commit to progressive new anti-deforestation policies for cocoa. You helped defend forests from the chocolate industry’s greed. Now, it’s time to defend farmers, too — working for people and planet.

Tell Nestlé, Pladis, and SucDen to pay farmers their fair share: Support a fair minimum price on cocoa - worldwide!

More information

Industry doubts remain over Ivory Coast, Ghana cocoa floor price
Reuters. 3 July 2019.

Chocolate gold: Ivory Coast and Ghana set a fixed price for cocoa
Al Jazeera. 7 August 2019.

Companies Support Higher Cocoa Prices for Farmers

Ask Godiva what it is doing to fight child labor in cocoa

Take Action Now

Valentine's Day is a big deal for chocolate. So big of a deal, in fact, that Americans spend almost $2 billion on candy for Valentine's Day. Meanwhile, cocoa farmers in Cote d'Ivoire, one of the major producers of cocoa, on average earn $0.78 a day.

Not only is that not enough to buy a chocolate bar at the store, it's not even enough for a farmer and his family to get by.

This imbalance contributes to one of the darkest secrets of the chocolate industry: the fact that over 2 million children are still working in cocoa fields.

They're not just helping out on family farms. They're working dangerous jobs like spraying pesticides or wielding machetes.

Most major companies have shared detailed plans about what they are doing to address child labor in their supply chains. Most – but not all.

Tell Godiva you want to know what it is doing to fight child labor in cocoa.

Godiva has shared that it will source 100% sustainable cocoa by 2020. But it hasn't shared what it is doing to achieve this goal, how close it is to achieving its goal, or even what sustainable cocoa means. And it definitely has not shared what it is specifically doing to meaningfully address child labor.

So this Valentine's Day, we're asking you to put down that heart-shaped box of chocolates and stand up for child laborers and cocoa farmers. Join us in asking: Godiva, what are you doing to fight child labor in your supply chain?

Then share our video about child labor in chocolate to increase the pressure on Godiva.

- Caroline Chen, Social Justice Campaigns Manager, Green America

Click here to sign the following petition: 

Dear Ms. Young-Scrivner,

As someone who enjoys eating chocolate and sharing it with those I love on special occasions, I was disappointed to learn that Godiva does not share specific plans, timelines, and programs to ensure that your supply of cocoa is fully sustainable and free of child labor by 2020.

Throughout West Africa, cocoa farmers and their families live in poverty. To be truly sustainable, Godiva must be able to trace where its cocoa is coming from down to the farm level, and under what conditions it was grown. I urge Godiva to ensure that all the farmers that produce your cocoa are lifted out of poverty.

Additionally, forced child labor is a major problem on cocoa farms in West Africa. I strongly urge your company to purchase 100% of your cocoa certified by a third-party as being free of child labor. Additionally, you should establish an independent, community-based child labor monitoring and remediation system for all the farms that supply your cocoa. This will assure your customers that you do not rely on the exploitation of children to produce your products.

Finally. as you make these commitments, I encourage you to share your progress with the public through a corporate responsibility report on your website that makes your progress on farmer income, child labor, and environmental protection fully transparent.

Thank you for your time and attention to this message. I look forward to learning more about what Godiva is doing to ensure that your chocolate is sustainable, and does not rely on child labor.