Chocolate maker Barry Callebaut AG delayed its date for selling 100% sustainably sourced cocoa as part of a broader effort to improve bean traceability and eradicate child labor in its supply chain.
The company extended the deadline for all ingredients to be certified or verified to 2030, from a previous target of 2025.
“We have a long tail of smaller volumes from more complicated suppliers, and less advanced suppliers in regions where we do need the extra five years,” Nicolas Mounard, the company’s vice president for sustainability and farming, said during an online presentation on Wednesday.
Barry Callebaut — a supplier to Nestle SA and Hershey Co. — made the announcement Wednesday as part of a plan to “sharpen” its sustainability goals.
Chocolate makers are under pressure to improve sustainability in their products amid consumer demand for greater accountability. In 2016, Barry Callebaut, which sources at least 60% of its cocoa from West Africa, launched its initiatives, including combating global warming and helping farmers out of poverty through training.
That’s been expanded to include subsidized soil inputs, planting material, financial support for third-party labor services and additional premiums.
“It is clear that we cannot reach these targets on our own,” said Steven Retzlaff, the company’s president for global cocoa, in a statement. For its strategy to become a reality, “we need public intervention to drive structural change beyond our direct supply chain.”
(Updates with company comment in third paragraph, details on strategy in sixth.)
