With Easter fast approaching, the cravings for chocolate are kicking in! The rich, indulgent appeal of chocolate is just too tempting to pass up. When Easter rolls around, I usually cannot wait to pick up the nearest gooey Cadbury’s Crème Egg.
But did you know the darker side of chocolate?
- Estimates of child labour on cocoa farms in the Cote D’Ivoire and Ghana, vary from 300,000 to 1 million between 2007-2013. [1]We know that a portion of these children have been trafficked.
- Thousands of boys as young as 10yrs old, from the Cote D’Ivoire and neighbouring countries, are trafficked to pick and harvest these beans.
- The freedom of children is taken and they are forced to work long hours on the cocoa plantations without receiving any money for their work.
We’ve been campaigning with your help since 2007 to unearth the darker side of chocolate – and to introduce companies to the hidden side of their supply chain. Global chocolate companies have the power to change the industry. We, as consumers, have the power to show chocolate companies that we care about who makes our chocolate.
We know that the chocolate companies have heard our demands. Over the past few years, there has been a wave of promises to change. Carolyn Kitto, from STOP THE TRAFFIK Australia, says, “The cocoa industry has been quick to promise and slow to deliver. We are not talking about small companies without the capacity to act.”
Mondelez has achieved one chocolate of five in our Chocolate Box – The Big 5 Ranked
Ferrero have stated they will purchase a total of 20,000 tonnes of Fairtrade certified cocoa over the next three years. Haigh’s has certified its entire Easter range with UTZ Certified: 70% of the beans they source from around the world now come from UTZ Certified farms. This is a major endorsement for both Fairtrade and the fight for #traffikfreechocolate.
Mondelēz International, owners of Cadbury’s and Milka, are lagging behind. This Easter we’re urging Mondelēz International to set a public deadline for their certification of their entire chocolate range. This means we want to see a Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance or UTZ Certified logo on every chocolate product.
This Easter we have range of simple campaign actions. We believe no child should have to be trafficked to make our chocolate this year. Please join this journey towards #traffikfreechocolate:
- We want Mondelēz International to hear us loud and clear, as together we say, we want certified chocolate this Easter. Please sign our petition – let’s deliver 10,000 signatures to them by the end of Easter Sunday.
- We have launched a thunderclap! You can show your support of this campaign and spread the message via your social media platforms. The thunderclap will send a simultaneous tweet, amplifying our campaign message, on April 17th. Join us!
- Post a message on Mondeléz’s Facebook page asking them to take action.
Mondeléz are the largest chocolate company in the world, owning some of the top chocolate brands. They have the ability to make a huge difference within the chocolate industry.
Only with your help can we apply pressure to Mondeléz and show them we care about child trafficking within the chocolate industry.
Lend us your support for #traffikfreechocolate this Easter.
