Mars Wrigley Confectionery has taken up new commitments to preserve forests, following last year’s introduction of Cocoa for Generations, the company’s strategy to drive toward a sustainable cocoa supply chain that is fully traceable by 2025.
John Ament, Mars Wrigley’s global cocoa vice president, noted the company has GPS-mapped a quarter of its global cocoa supply chain to farm level.
“Our Cocoa for Generations plan embodies our sustainability strategy for cocoa, with protecting people and the planet at its core,” he said. “In order to achieve our 2025 ambition of a deforestation-free cocoa supply chain for cocoa we source, we will ensure 100 percent traceability and will only work with cocoa supply chain partners who can meet our Responsible Cocoa specifications. We are proud to share our actions to preserve and protect forests for the future, because the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today.”
Mars Wrigley plans to take additional actions to preserve forests, including:
- An ambition of a deforestation-free cocoa supply chain by 2025
- Mapping via GPS 100 percent of the cocoa it sources to farm level by 2025
- Disclosure of cocoa countries of origin, current Tier 1 suppliers and progress on traceability to Tier 2 farmer groups and Tier 3 farmers as part of its promise of transparency;
- Exclusively sourcing from suppliers who meet the Responsible Cocoa specification of traceability for direct sourcing by 2019 and indirect sourcing by 2022 in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana
- Detailed action plans for Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana as part of the Cocoa and Forests Initiative.
- In 2019, completing risk assessments for Indonesia, Brazil and Cameroon to be published in 2020
- Completion of risk assessments for Ecuador and the other countries we source from by 2020.
- Use of third-parties to monitor and verify progress.
Mars Wrigley currently can trace 95 percent of the cocoa it sources to a country of origin via its Tier 1 (direct suppliers). Nearly 40 percent of Mars’ cocoa supply chain can be traced to Tier 2 (farmer group) and 24 percent can be traced to a Tier 3 (farm level).
Every year Mars will report progress on the commitments and goals of the Cocoa for Generations plan.
