The Ferrero Group has achieved its goal of sourcing cocoa in a 100% sustainable way. The company, which shared the latest developments in its commitments, continues to make efforts to ensure full visibility and traceability throughout the supply chain of one of its key ingredients.
Furthermore, the company renewed and expanded its strategic partnership with Save the Children, committing to a significant investment to protect children in cocoa-producing communities, such as Ivory Coast.
Sustainable cocoa sourcing
In 2011, Ferrero committed to sourcing 100% of its cocoa beans sustainably, using independently managed standards, before the end of 2020, to help improve the living conditions of cocoa farmers and promote sustainable practices.
In 2019, Ferrero broadened the scope of this objective to include chocolate purchased from third parties, a commitment that has now been fulfilled.
In practice, this means that Ferrero sources sustainably sourced cocoa guaranteed by leading certification bodies and a set of independent standards, such as the Rainforest Alliance (UTZ), Fairtrade, and Cocoa Horizons.
Traceability
Ferrero is able to achieve high levels of traceability, from farms to consumers. This capability is due to an approach that involves acquiring most of its cocoa as raw beans, carrying out all subsequent processing in its own facilities.
Additionally, the beans are purchased as physically traceable, also known as "segregated," from specific groups of farmers. This means that Ferrero knows exactly which farm the cocoa comes from, which in turn helps to identify any problems and introduce positive changes on the ground, together with cooperatives and farmers.
In the 2019/2020 harvest season, Ferrero managed to trace more than 95% of all its cocoa beans back to the specific farms that produced them and is making great strides in the traceability of chocolate purchased from third parties. Additionally, it is making considerable progress in achieving its goals of mapping the farmers in its supply chain, as part of its commitment to preventing deforestation, and covering farmer groups with a Child Labor Prevention and Correction System or equivalent systems.
Two other major goals established in the Ferrero program are the empowerment of women and the reduction of gender inequality. In this sense, for example, to date Ferrero has helped approximately 14 members of cocoa-producing communities, mainly women, to gain access to small loans for entrepreneurial activities.
Save the Children
Ferrero wishes to develop its Cocoa Agricultural Values Program, especially with regard to protecting children's rights. It is within this framework that it has extended its strategic partnership with Save the Children, developing and expanding the three-year program launched in 2017 in 20 communities in Ivory Coast.
The co-financed project, with a total value of eight million euros, is expected to last five years. It is estimated that it will directly benefit 37 children and adults, and reach a total of 90 people through various mass outreach and awareness activities.
The renewed partnership will involve intensified activities in 65 communities in the Haut-Sassandra region of Ivory Coast, where Ferrero sources a significant amount of cocoa.
The partnership also takes on a new dimension: Save the Children assumes the role of providing strategic guidance and technical support to Ferrero and its suppliers to ensure a harmonized approach to child protection throughout its supply chain in Ivory Coast and Ghana.
