Swiss chocolate-maker Lindt & Sprüngli has extended its farming programme to include cocoa butter and two new countries of origin: Peru and Ivory Coast.
The programme now includes seven countries, with Ghana, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Madagascar and Papua New Guinea already part of it.
In 2021, more than 91,000 farmers participated in the Lindt & Sprüngli farming programme – up from 80,000 in 2020.
The company switched to sourcing 100% of its cocoa beans through the programme in 2020.
As of 2021, 64% of Lindt & Sprüngli’s cocoa bean make-up – beans, butter, powder and chocolate – has been sourced through sustainability programmes, the company noted.
The Lindt & Sprüngli farming programme aims to create decent and resilient livelihoods for cocoa farmers, their families, and communities.
Sustainability Report 2021
The chocolate-maker highlighted in its 2021 Sustainability Report that it made further progress towards its goal of creating long-term added value for society, the environment, and the economy.
The company aims to source all cocoa from farming households covered by the Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation System (CLMRS) by 2025, to address the issue of child labour in the cocoa industry.
As part of the CLMRS, in 2021, Lindt & Sprüngli completed an external stakeholder review of its Community Child Protection System (CCPS) implementation guidance document.
It also developed a monitoring and reporting methodology and commenced the capacity-building of programme staff members at the supplier level.
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Recently, the group became an official member of the Child Learning and Education Facility (CLEF), a public-private partnership focused on scaling investments to improve access to education.
Martin Hug, CFO of the Lindt & Sprüngli Group, said, “Access to quality education for all children is at the heart of a holistic child protection concept.
“Through our new membership in the CLEF initiative, public and private stakeholders jointly invest into the education system to collaboratively contribute to creating a better future for the children of cocoa farmers, and with the aim to prevent child labour at the landscape level.”
Complete Carbon Footprint
The company also developed its first complete carbon footprint in 2021.
The chocolate-maker executed the project in partnership with third-party experts covering Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, in line with the GHG Protocol standards.
Dieter Weisskopf, CEO of the Lindt & Sprüngli Group, commented, “Climate change has the potential to exacerbate social conflicts and challenge [the] agricultural production of raw materials.
“Our first complete carbon footprint has revealed that our greatest leverage to limit climate change is in our value chain, namely in sourcing cocoa and other raw materials, as well as in transportation and packaging initiatives. This is an important guiding principle when implementing changes in our organisation to drive emissions reduction actions.”
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest supply chain news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
