Ghana and Ivory Coast are said to cancel all cocoa sustainability schemes run by American chocolate manufacturing giant – Hershey – within their jurisdictions, according to reports by Reuters News Agency.
The chocolatemaker is allegedly accused of attempts at avoiding the payment of the Living Income Differential (LID), a $400 per tonne poverty alleviation fee imposed by Ghana and Ivory Coast on their produce in 2019 and paid directly to millions of poverty-stricken cocoa producers.
“In a letter addressed to Hershey and seen by Reuters, the Ivorian and Ghanaian cocoa regulators accuse Hershey of sourcing unusually large volumes of physical cocoa on the ICE futures exchange in order to avoid the premium, known as a living income differential (LID),” the Reuters report said.
The report further noted, the letter verified as authentic by spokespersons for the Ghanaian and Ivorian cocoa regulators, also accused Fuji Oil Holdings’ Blommer subsidiary of aiding Hershey.
In cracking the whip on the Hershey’s attempt to undermine the LID policy, “Ivory Coast and Ghana, which produce two-thirds of the world’s cocoa, said they are also barring third party companies from running sustainability schemes in the West African nations on behalf of Hershey.”
The schemes certify cocoa as sustainably sourced, allowing companies to market their chocolate as ethical and charge a premium for it.
