Demand cocoa transparency from Mondelēz

Mondelēz must be transparent and clean up their cocoa supply chain! 

Sign the petition here.

The Chocolate Scorecard expert team has reviewed Mondelēz’s available data and is seriously concerned about its ongoing lack of transparency. Mondelēz has only participated once in the Scorecard in the past three years, leaving critical questions unanswered. 

An expert analyst on Mondelēz’ latest cocoa life and CFI report stated:

“Mondelēz uses significant amounts of jargon and corporate language to bulk out their sustainability reporting. Generally, there are many standalone data points that do not provide reference to their relativity across Mondelēz’ sourcing.”

Forced labor and the worst forms of child labor continue to plague the cocoa industry in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, where 60% of the world’s cocoa is grown. Despite public commitments, many major chocolate companies—including Mondelēz, makers of Cadbury, Oreo, Milka, Toblerone, and Green & Black’s—have not gone far enough to address these abuses.¹

Hear Aziz’s story: https://soundcloud.com/freedomunitedhq/azizs-story

Together with our partners at Be Slavery Free, we are committed to eliminating forced and child labor from the cocoa industry. As promotion partners in the Chocolate Scorecard and signatories of the Global Call to Action for a Just Cocoa Industry, we are calling on the world’s top chocolate companies, including Mondelēz, to take concrete steps to address the gaps in protection and the underlying drivers of exploitation and forced child labor in the cocoa sector. 

Here’s what an ethical and transparent cocoa supply chain looks like—and the critical gaps Mondelēz must address: 

Pay cocoa farmers a living income so they aren’t pushed to rely on child labor, suffer, or perpetuate exploitation. 

• How many farmers in Mondelēz’s supply chain are earning a living income? 

• How many are not earning a living income, and for how many is this unknown?
• What plans does Mondelēz have (if any) to ensure the average farmer they are sourcing from in West Africa is receiving enough to earn a living income?

Prevent child labor and child trafficking across all cocoa-growing communities they source from by scaling child labor monitoring and remediation systems and addressing root causes. 

• What percentage of farmers supplying to Mondelēz are part of the Cocoa Life program? 

• What volume of cocoa sourced is covered under Cocoa Life as a percentage of total volume? 

• What is the target date for 100% of farmers and cocoa sourced to be from Cocoa Life? 

• What percentage of cocoa communities globally are covered by child protection and education programs?
  
  

Ensure full traceability of cocoa to farmers in the Cocoa Life program.

Mondelēz uses a mass balance system, which means they can claim to support certain farmers while actually sourcing cocoa from elsewhere that is cheaper—so the cocoa in their products may not come from the farmers they say they support.

• How is their mass balance system structured—site, national, or global level?

• Are they matching origins or supporting farmers in one country while buying cocoa from another?

• What are their plans to move toward physically sourcing from Cocoa Life-supported farmers?

End deforestation across all supply chains and report on progress by 2025. 

• The economic pressures on cocoa farmers have forced them to push deeper into forests, contributing to environmental harm and the continued use of forced child labor to clear land. 

• Report on current and anticipated progress by 2025 for cocoa sourced globally to be deforestation-free. 

Drastically reduce pesticide use that is poisoning communities, especially children in forced labor. 

• Pesticides harm child laborers, surrounding communities, and critical resources like water and soil. 

• The continued use of pesticides is poisoning children and their environments, stealing their futures and livelihoods. 

• Publish a clear, time-limited plan for addressing pesticide exposure in cocoa-growing communities. 

Chocolate should never come at the cost of exploitation. 

TAKE ACTION! 

Sign the petition now to demand Mondelēz step up its cocoa transparency and help end forced labor in the chocolate industry!