How does slave labor taste? Just in time for Valentine’s Day International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) has released their Chocolate Company Scorecard 2009: The Sweet and the Bitter. Their annual report highlights how much progress, if any, the chocolate industry has made in addressing child labor in their cocoa suppliers.
Even though, in 2001, the major US chocolate companies signed an agreement - the Harkin-Engel Protocol - committing to ensuring that they were not purchasing cocoa beans harvested by the worst forms of child labor, children continue to work in West African cocoa farms.
The ILRF report Chocolate Company Scorecard 2009: The Sweet and the Bitter explains that Hershey (which owns Scharffen Berger and Dagoba Chocolate) “…continues to drag its feet in dealing with child and trafficked labor in its cocoa supply chain”.
M&M/Mars (also owns Dove) has also not made much headway reports ILRF. “Mars’ leadership has not moved the industry very far toward ending the problem of child labor,” explains ILRF.
Nestlé (also owns Haagen-Dazs), “Unlike other chocolate manufacturers, Nestlé directly sources cocoa from West Africa and has direct control over its supply chain and knowledge of the farms from which it sources,” reports ILRF.
The report also includes details about companies that are making some efforts (The Semi-Sweet) and chocolate companies that are committed to sustainability and improving the livelihoods of cocoa farmers globally (The Sweetest). The Sweetest list includes Sweet Earth Chocolates, Divine Chocolates, and Equal Exchange.
To read the full report visit International Labor Rights Forum
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