In celebration of International Day of Forests on March 21, Black Forest is making a commitment to become a sustainable brand by using real ingredients, moving to fully sustainable packaging, continuing to plant and protect forests, and reducing its impact in its production.  

“At Black Forest, we believe that real good requires real action,” said Kate Adams, senior brand marketing director of Black Forest at Ferrara. “It’s why we were founded in the first place — to capture the transformative power of nature and make snacks that are delicious, with carefully selected real ingredients. We looked to our consumers as we developed a set of goals that will deliver impact in all aspects of our business including real ingredients, real fruit juice and partnerships that have a real impact on the conservation of forests.”

Black Forest is launching a 10-year commitment that includes a move to packaging by 2025 that is recyclable, reusable or compostable, while still maintaining the freshness and quality consumers have come to expect. 

Black Forest is also continuing its partnership with the National Forest Foundation, now in its third year, which provides ways for people to take action to help tree-planting efforts in the wake of devastating wildfires. Through this meaningful partnership, Black Forest committed to plant 1.5 million trees across U.S. forests that have been impacted by wildfire by the end of 2022. Now, the brand has set a long-range goal to plant 10 million trees by 2030. 

Black Forest launched its USDA-certified organic gummy bears and fruit snacks in 2015, using colors and flavors from real sources. Citing IRI date, the brand said it has experienced nearly 15 percent growth, with the Conventional Gummy line growing 16.8 percent and the Fruit Snack Juicy Burst line growing 41.7 percent. Looking ahead, by 2022, all products in the portfolio will use colors and flavors from real sources including turmeric, black carrot juice, black currant juice, carrot juice, purple sweet potato juice, cherry juice and radish juice.