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It’s good to talk: An update on our meeting with Mondelēz International

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we want traffik free chocolateThis spring thousands of STOP THE TRAFFIK activists around the world showed the world’s largest chocolate company just how passionately they feel about ending child trafficking in the cocoa supply chain.

The momentum was incredible!

Over 10, 000 messages were sent to Mondelēz International calling on them to demonstrate their commitment to tackling child trafficking within their cocoa supply chains by certifying their entire chocolate range. Our Thunderclap reached over 100,000 twitter accounts and Mondelez’s Facebook page was flooded with messages from STOP THE TRAFFIK activists.

We received hundreds of messages expressing why certification is so important to you. Here are just a couple:

“Being transparent to the world and being honest is something consumers love to see. Building on trust is so important, and it sets standards for other companies to follow”

“Certification acts as a way of measuring the difference made to the supply chain. Certification increases company transparency. Certification keeps companies accountable.”

Mondelēz heard you!

As a result of our collective consumer power, Mondelēz agreed to meet with STOP THE TRAFFIK to discuss the demands of our campaign. Thank you to everyone who submitted questions and comments ahead of the meeting.

So how did it go?

We engaged in a very constructive conversation and we would like to thank Francesco Tramontin- Director of External Affairs, Europe for flying to the UK to meet with us. We expressed the urgency of tackling child trafficking in the chocolate industry. Since 2001 we have seen chocolate companies make commitments to eradicating this horrendous crime from within their supply chains and yet in 2014, trafficking and exploitation continue to be hidden ingredients within our favourite chocolate products. This must stop.

What did we hear? 

We heard about the progress being made through Mondelez’s $400 million Cocoa Life Initiativeand their desire to see the eradication of child trafficking from their cocoa supply chain. The Cocoa Life Initiative seeks to develop a holistic approach to transforming cocoa communities – one that includes elimination of child labour, gender equality and education as measures for success – all of which are important outcomes for cocoa communities to thrive.

Plans don’t go far enough

These plans are definitely steps in the right direction and we are pleased to see this initial commitment however much of the detail on their programmes is still lacking. What percentage of their cocoa farmers will benefit from this Cocoa Life program? How much of their cocoa is currently certified? Who and how will their program be independently audited?

We called on Mondelēz to take ambitious steps to ensure that the plans they implement to address trafficking encompass their entire cocoa production.  As consumers we want Mondelēz to demonstrate their commitment to us through certifying their entire range of chocolate.

We were assured that detailed plans will be coming soon. A national situation assessment is currently underway within the Cote D’Ivoire and baseline reporting will be available later this year. Please see here for a formal response to some of our questions.

Key points:

There are still far too many unanswered questions and a lack of transparent details. We look forward to seeing further details soon.

A measure of any commitment is the speed of change. Change is inevitably connected the financial commitment made to tackling this issue. 

Our campaigning is essential to changing this industry. We must not give up until child trafficking ends.

Thank you for being part of this campaign. Our campaign continues.

TOGETHER WE CAN STOP THE TRAFFIK

 


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