Mondelēz International has announced that from the end of March, the Oreao brand will be covered by its industry leading sustainable cocoa sourcing programme, Cocoa Life. Oreo packs will now begin to display the Cocoa Life logo, which will be present across the full range by the end of this year*.
Today’s announcement is part of Mondelēz International’s commitment to expand Cocoa Life to more of its brands, with the company’s ultimate goal to source all its cocoa sustainably, primarily through Cocoa Life.
Following last year’s announcement that all Cadbury products would be brought under Cocoa Life by 2019, the inclusion of OREO in the programme demonstrates how the company continues to use its scale to help even more cocoa farmers, their families and their communities.
Glenn Caton, President, Northern Europe at Mondelēz International, said:
“To bring the iconic Oreo brand under Cocoa Life is a special moment for us as we continue to expand the programme and move closer to our target of empowering 200,000 farmers and reaching one million people in cocoa-growing communities by 2022.
“Through Cocoa Life, we want to become an accountable partner for our cocoa farmers, not just a buyer. Cocoa Life truly transforms communities by delivering real and measurable improvements for cocoa farmers. Independent assessments show that we are having a genuine impact and seeing the Cocoa Life logo on the front of packs will give consumers the confidence that whenever they buy an Oreo product they are making a real difference to people’s lives.”
Launched in Ghana in 2008 as the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership, by the end of 2016 Cocoa Life had already reached 92,000 cocoa farmers, and investment in 854 communities delivered community action plans to improve education, healthcare, infrastructure and other priorities. In Ghana, farmer income increased 49% more and cocoa yield increased 37% more in Cocoa Life communities than in communities outside the programme.
Without cocoa, there is no chocolate. Without the next cocoa farming generation, there is no cocoa. Cocoa Life is an independently verified programme that aims to support sustainable cocoa farming, securing a positive future for cocoa farmers, their families and their communities. Cocoa Life directly connects buyers to farmers in order to turn them from subsistence operations to sustainable businesses, by growing crop yields, driving up incomes and strengthening community development.
From its inception in 2012 to the end of 2016, Cocoa Life reached 92,000 cocoa farmers in 861 communities. By 2022, Mondelēz will have invested $400m to reach 200,000 cocoa farmers and one million people in cocoa growing communities in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Indonesia, Brazil, Dominican Republic, and India. For more information see www.cocoalife.org.
About Cocoa Life
Cocoa Life is transforming cocoa farming through a unique approach rooted in directly implementing sustainability within the cocoa supply chain. It invests in cocoa farmers and their communities. It is a holistic and farmer centric approach working with communities to help them set their own tailored action plans that will deliver the most value for them around five outcomes:
- Farming – helping farmers improve yield and earn higher incomes
- Community – enabling coca farming families to create the kind of communities they and their children want to live in
- Livelihoods – improving business skills and helping to develop additional source of income to lift people out of poverty
- Youth – making cocoa faming a more attractive profession for young people
- Environment – protecting the landscapes in which cocoa is grown to maintain the ecosystems and farming land for future generations.
Cocoa Life also aligns with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, in areas such as empowerment of women, and promoting sustainable agriculture.
By the end of 2016, Cocoa Life had reached 92,000 cocoa farmers in 861 communities. Independent assessments show:
- Investment in 854 communities had delivered community action plans to improve education, healthcare, infrastructure and other priorities.
- 170 Women Extension Volunteers were trained in over 209 communities.
- 1,200 Village Savings and Loans Schemes were established, with 22,300 community members – of which c.80% are women
- In Ghana, farmer income increased 49% more and cocoa yield increased 37% more in Cocoa Life communities than in communities outside the programme
- In Cote d’Ivoire, we helped 20,600 farmers improve crops in 229 communities
- In Indonesia, we helped 16,100 farmers improve crops in 132 communities, more farmers adopted Good Agricultural Practices and reported increases in average cocoa yields (+10%) and annual cocoa incomes (+37%).
Alongside its programme partner Fairtrade, Cocoa Life is actively supported on the ground by NGO delivery partners including Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO), Save The Children, CARE International, World Vision and Solidaridad, harnessing their long experience of working with cocoa growing communities to maximise the impact of the programme. Cocoa Life also involves experts from organisations like WWF, the UN Development Programme, and Anti-Slavery International in the design and oversight of the programme.
Mondelēz International has committed to intrinsically linking driving business growth with making positive change in the world in its new growth strategy, ‘Impact for Growth’. Through Cocoa Life, Mondelēz is using its scale as the world’s largest chocolate maker to drive positive change for the communities on which it depends. Follow our progress at www.cocoalife.org/progress.
*Cocoa Life logo on pack dates: OREO Flavours – end March 2018, Standard OREO range – May 2018, OREO Thins – end 2018. (All existing OREO products, except OREO Crispy & Thin, will be made with sustainably grown cocoa).
