NGOs criticise Hershey’s cocoa sourcing
16 September 2010 – NGOs and human rights groups have accused Hershey of sourcing cocoa from African farms that use forced and child labour in wide-ranging criticism of the US chocolate giant’s record on corporate and social responsibility.
According to a report from Global Exchange, Green America, the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) and Oasis USA, Hershey has not ensured its cocoa supplies from west Africa were not from areas “tainted” by labour rights abuses.
The report also accused Hershey of “a lack of transparency” in identifying its cocoa suppliers and claimed that the company had “no third-party certification”. Hershey, the report argued, “lags behind its competitors” when it comes to purchasing cocoa certified to meet certain labour, social, and environmental standards.
The report, timed to coincide with the publication of Hershey’s first corporate and social responsibility report, has called on the company to make use 100% Fair Trade Certified cocoa beans for one of its five top-selling chocolate bars by 2012 – and to commit that the “majority” of cocoa across its products will be certified Fair Trade Certified by 2022.
