Exposed: Hershey’s Chocolate
source: http://www.awakenedaesthetic.com/2011/02/exposed-hersheys-chocolate/
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- AwakenedAesthetic
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Before I get to the grit, here’s a base of information for us to start with:
* Most consumer chocolate comes from cocoa beans that are farmed in West Africa.
* West Africa is known for forced labor, human trafficking and child labor – sometimes all three at once.
* Hershey, which has the largest market share in the US at 42.5%, gets the majority of their chocolate from – you guessed it! – West Africa.
* Out of every major (and a bunch of relatively minor) companies that produce chocolate, Hershey is the only one that refuses to certify their chocolate as fair trade.
In fact, not only does Hershey refuse to use chocolate from certified fair trade sources, it won’t even list them publicly. Does Hershey get its cocoa beans from the same places that practice forced child labor? We don’t know, because they won’t tell anyone: When asked by companies like Global Exchange and The International Labor Rights Forum, Hershey refused to provide public information about its cocoa sources in West Africa, period.
Here’s what we do know: the majority of Hershey’s cocoa is sourced from West Africa; the company has no purchasing policies that would prevent labor exploitation of those in West Africa; it refuses to shift to third-party fair trade certifications (which almost every other major chocolate manufacturer has); and even when Hershey’s investors asked the company to “institute supply-chain transparency programs for its cocoa,” the company refused.
Read more about Hershey and what you can do to stop child labor in West Africa:
http://www.awakenedaesthetic.com/2011/02/exposed-hersheys-chocolate/
* Most consumer chocolate comes from cocoa beans that are farmed in West Africa.
* West Africa is known for forced labor, human trafficking and child labor – sometimes all three at once.
* Hershey, which has the largest market share in the US at 42.5%, gets the majority of their chocolate from – you guessed it! – West Africa.
* Out of every major (and a bunch of relatively minor) companies that produce chocolate, Hershey is the only one that refuses to certify their chocolate as fair trade.
In fact, not only does Hershey refuse to use chocolate from certified fair trade sources, it won’t even list them publicly. Does Hershey get its cocoa beans from the same places that practice forced child labor? We don’t know, because they won’t tell anyone: When asked by companies like Global Exchange and The International Labor Rights Forum, Hershey refused to provide public information about its cocoa sources in West Africa, period.
Here’s what we do know: the majority of Hershey’s cocoa is sourced from West Africa; the company has no purchasing policies that would prevent labor exploitation of those in West Africa; it refuses to shift to third-party fair trade certifications (which almost every other major chocolate manufacturer has); and even when Hershey’s investors asked the company to “institute supply-chain transparency programs for its cocoa,” the company refused.
Read more about Hershey and what you can do to stop child labor in West Africa:
http://www.awakenedaesthetic.com/2011/02/exposed-hersheys-chocolate/
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- tags:
- Business, Activism, Human Rights, Africa, 13 more
