The world’s top cocoa producer says the $100bn chocolate industry is resisting paying a premium aimed at improving the livelihood of farmers.
Ivory Coast and neighbouring Ghana “have noticed that clients, and more specifically confectioners, using Covid-19 as a pretext, are resisting to pay the living-income differential by refusing to buy directly” from the two countries, Kone wrote in the letter to the World Cocoa Foundation, which represents companies including Barry Callebaut, Hershey and Nestle. His letter was verified by a spokesperson for the regulator.
“To say that our longtime practice of buying cocoa from a variety of global sources is undermining the LID is simply not accurate,” Jeff Beckman, a spokesperson for Hershey, said. “We have always bought cocoa from a variety of sources and that will continue to be the case” as the American company needs a blend of cocoa from various countries to achieve the taste and quality consumers expect of its products, he said.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.