World Cocoa Foundation facts for kids

The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) is a group of over 90 companies that work together. Their main goal is to make sure that the way cocoa is grown and sold is fair and good for everyone. This means helping farmers, protecting forests, and stopping child labor.

However, some people say that WCF and its members are not doing enough. They are criticized for not stopping child labor, cutting down forests, and helping farmers who are very poor. Some even call their efforts "greenwashing," which means making things look better than they are.

WCF's members include big chocolate makers like Mondelez International, Nestlé, The Hershey Company, and Mars, Inc.. It also includes companies that produce cocoa, like Barry Callebaut and Cargill, along with shipping companies and stores like Starbucks.

History of the WCF

The World Cocoa Foundation started in 1995. It was first called the International Cocoa Research and Education Foundation. This group was an idea from the Chocolate Manufacturer's Association (CMA).

On August 14, 2000, the group changed its name to the World Cocoa Foundation. The CMA itself later closed down in 2008. It became part of another group called the National Confectioners Association.

A report in 2022, called the Cocoa Barometer, pointed out something important. It said that the WCF's board of directors did not have much variety. "None of the sixteen board members of the World Cocoa Foundation are from West Africa. None are Black."

WCF's Main Goals

The World Cocoa Foundation's vision is to help the cocoa industry be strong, healthy, and fair. They want to work together to help farmers earn more money. They also aim to stop trees from being cut down and to fight against child labor.

Some studies have looked at how much money chocolate and cocoa companies put into these efforts. One study estimated it's about 0.5% of what these companies earn. This study said that this amount is "not much." It also suggested that the pay for top leaders at big cocoa companies is similar to or even more than the total money spent to help cocoa farmers.

When it comes to stopping child labor, one estimate says companies invest about 0.1% of their yearly sales.

Stopping Child Labor

At a meeting in Berlin, Germany, in 2019, WCF announced a plan called Children First. This plan aimed to "eliminate all forms of child labor by 2025." However, this plan has not yet officially started.

Many people see child labor in cocoa production as a very serious problem. One activist called it a "criminal tragedy." Child labor is still very common and has not gone down much over many years.

A 2019 Washington Post investigation found something concerning. It said that Mars, Nestlé, and Hershey promised almost 20 years ago to stop using cocoa picked by children. Yet, much of the chocolate we buy still starts with child labor. The report talked about children from Burkina Faso working in terrible conditions. They were harvesting cocoa in Côte d’Ivoire.

A 2020 report by NORC at the University of Chicago found that child labor in cocoa farming had increased. This was true in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. The Washington Post called these findings "a remarkable failure." It meant that leading chocolate companies had not kept their promise to stop child labor in their supply chains.

The WCF President, Richard Scobey, responded to these findings. The Washington Post noted that he "identified no industry failures." Instead, he thought that the goals for reducing child labor might have been too ambitious.

Even though WCF member companies say their chocolate is free of child labor, news reports have often found child labor in their supply chains.

In 2022, a British TV show called Channel 4 Dispatches did an investigation. They found children as young as 10 working on farms in Ghana. These farms supplied cocoa for Cadbury's, a brand of Mondelēz International. The investigation visited an address from Mondelēz’s website. They found child laborers picking cocoa without protective gear.

John Oliver, a TV host, joked about this. He said Mondelēz's only response could be, "Honestly, did not think anyone would actually check." In 2023, a CBS news investigation found children as young as five years old. They were working in Ghana to harvest cocoa for Mars brands like Snickers and M&Ms.

The chocolate industry has set deadlines to end child labor in cocoa. They missed these deadlines in 2005, 2008, 2010, and 2020. Missing their own deadlines so many times has led to a lot of jokes and criticism.

On Last Week Tonight, John Oliver said: "At that point, why bother setting a deadline at all?" He compared it to a friend who keeps changing dinner plans. If they say "be there in 20 years, not minutes," it feels like they never planned to have dinner.

Helping Farmers Earn More

From 2001 to 2012, the World Cocoa Foundation managed projects to help farmers earn more money. These projects received some support from the United States Agency for International Development. In 2009, the World Cocoa Foundation received a large grant of $23 million. This money came from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The goal was to help farming families earn more. They aimed to do this by improving how much cocoa farmers could grow. They also focused on better cocoa quality and growing other crops. In 2014, the Gates Foundation gave another $8.9 million grant. This money also aimed to improve the lives of farmers in West Africa.

The CocoaAction program started in June 2014 and finished in 2019. [1] This was a voluntary effort by leading cocoa and chocolate companies. They wanted to make cocoa farming more sustainable and help farmers earn more. The World Cocoa Foundation helped these companies work together on their individual efforts.

By 2019, nine companies were part of CocoaAction. These included Barry Callebaut, Blommer Chocolate Company, Cargill, Ferrero, The Hershey Company, Mars, Inc., Mondelez International, Nestlé, and Olam International. These are some of the biggest cocoa and chocolate companies in the world. They worked through CocoaAction to coordinate their efforts. They started in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana.

A 2020 report by KPMG said that CocoaAction "did not fully reach its targets." The program aimed for 300,000 farmers to use all parts of the Productivity Package by 2020. However, only 1,165 farmers actually did this. This was less than one percent of the goal.

The goal of reaching 1,200 communities with the Community Development Package was met. But this only meant that a needs assessment was done, not that the plan was fully put into action. KPMG also noted that the overall plan for CocoaAction was made with very little input from outside groups. Also, the governments of the cocoa-producing countries were not involved enough. This meant they didn't feel ownership of the program. The report also said that CocoaAction struggled because WCF's help and company participation decreased over time.

In 2018, WCF started CocoaAction Brasil. It worked in a similar way to its efforts in West Africa.

Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana were concerned about falling cocoa prices. They worried about how this affected farmer income. Because of this, they boycotted the 2022 WCF Partnership Meeting. The 2022 Cocoa Barometer stated that problems in cocoa farming would continue. This would happen until companies paid farmers much more for their cocoa beans.

Antonie Fountain, director of the VOICE Network, told Reuters: "We've got new data that shows you cannot have sustainable cocoa without higher prices for farmers. It's just not going to work." WCF President Chris Vincent said that cocoa prices were not something WCF could control. He explained: "Antitrust laws mean companies cannot discuss pricing together. So, we are clear that we are not part of that price debate."

Protecting Forests

In 2018, the World Cocoa Foundation started the Cocoa & Forests Initiative. It received support from The Prince of Wales. This initiative brings together the governments of Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, and Colombia. It also includes thirty-five chocolate and cocoa companies. Some of the founding members are The Hershey Company, Nestle, and Mondelez International.

Two important parts of this plan are mapping farms and giving out trees. This helps to increase the forest cover.

The World Cocoa Foundation reported that they had made progress in the first four years of this initiative. However, an environmental group called Mighty Earth said there was still more to do. Glenn Hurowitz, CEO of Mighty Earth, said: "Chocolate companies like Nestlé, Hershey’s, Mondelez and Mars need to stop making empty promises. They need to start working together with governments in the CFI. They should create an open and effective way to monitor deforestation this year."

In a review of the Cocoa & Forests Initiative's first five years, Reuters concluded that it had not done enough. It had not stopped cocoa farming from destroying forests. Reuters pointed to several key problems. These included not enough money, difficulty in tracking where cocoa came from, and companies not working together enough.