The Nestlé Cocoa Plan

I was thrilled when Nestlé wrote me and told me about their Cocoa Plan. As someone who gives these exact treats away on Halloween (and indulges in them when I go out to the movies) I was happy to learn about their 10-year initiative to work towards improving the livelihoods of cocoa farmers and their committed to helping eliminate unacceptable forms of child labour.

They are the first food company in the world to partner with the Fair Labour Association to address child labour in the company’s cocoa supply chain and has partnered with The World Cocoa Foundation to build or refurbish 40 schools over the next four years.

Nestlé has invested $120 million to work towards improving the livelihoods of cocoa farmers through a number of programs including: distributing higher-yielding, disease-resistant plantlets that produce more income; providing education for farmers and their families; and improving infrastructure in farming communities.

Canada is one of the first five countries in the world to introduce the Nestlé Cocoa Plan-sourced chocolate, now available in Nestlé’s Kit Kat, Aero, Coffee Crisp and Smarties.

A little less guilt when you indulge in chocolate sounds good to me and helping farmers yield more profit and the prevention of child labour are all positive goals.

I hope other foodie companies are paying attention. They could learn a lot from Nestlé.