Children as young as seven are enduring 16-hour days and beatings to produce the cocoa that major companies use to make chocolate. And only days before Easter, these companies are desperately competing with each other to maximise profits.
It’s their most lucrative holiday period -- but their profits will come from modern day child slavery. And while every other major chocolate company has already taken steps to ensure their cocoa isn’t harvested by children, Lindt and Ferrero continue to put massive profits ahead of basic child welfare.
Childcare worker Morgan Rayner loves chocolate. But when she found out about the children farming the cocoa, she could only imagine her 9-year-old little brother in their shoes. She’s started a massive global Change.org petition calling on Ferrero and Lindt to take immediate steps to make sure no children are involved in making their chocolate.
They can’t afford a huge consumer backlash and negative media coverage that will threaten their sales just days away from Easter -- if tens of thousands join her, the pressure and threat to their brands will convince them to act.
Join Morgan and tens of thousands around the world -- tell Lindt and Ferrero to stamp out child slave labour in their supply chain and introduce ethical chocolate now.
The use of child slaves to produce cocoa is well documented and widely recognised. In fact, there are 200,000 children working in cocoa farms in West Africa, where 70% of the world’s cocoa is farmed. [1]
But the movement to end child slavery in the chocolate industry is growing fast. Major brands like Nestle, Mars and Cadbury have already released products that are certified as child labour free. None are perfect -- but they’re all taking real steps in the right direction.
Lindt and Ferrero are the last two major brands still holding out -- and they’re under mounting pressure to ensure their own products aren’t produced by children in shocking conditions.
Easter is one of the most profitable times of the year for chocolate companies -- they’ll be more sensitive than ever to consumer pressure. It’s a chance to make real progress in ending child slavery -- but it will only happen if thousands join Morgan in shining a light on the issue, and convince Lindt and Ferrero that they have to act to protect their brands.
Click here to tell Lindt and Ferrero to introduce chocolate that’s free from child slave labour now.
Morgan is one of thousands of everyday people using Change.org to change their community for the better. From local issues to Apple consumers forcing the world’s largest company to take unprecedented action on workers’ rights -- individuals are coming together to win change like never before.
Thanks for being a part of this,
Nick and the Change.org team
[1] http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/16/chocolate-explainer...
Comments
A smear campaign to decrease Ferrero Rocher and Lindt sales?
I'm a bit concerned about this petition. Both Lindt and Ferrero Rocher say they do NOT buy cocoa sourced from the Ivory Coast. The rumor that they do dates back to 2009. This seems to go around before every major chocolate holiday like Easter or Valentines Day. The petition encourages us to buy chocolate from other companies like Cadbury and Nestle (Hershey's, too) who definitely do get a fair amount of their cocoa from the Ivory Coast. Just because they offer one product that is made with fair trade cocoa, doesn't make their use of child labor to produce their other products okay. I can't help but wonder if the petition is actually a smear campaign against Ferrero Rocher and Lindt to decrease sales at critical holiday times.
Why not go Fair Trade
If Lindt and Ferrero Rocher want to be protected from such claims there is a simple solution - GO FAIRTRADE! Get your cocoa from certified fair trade sources and then we will know that your their products are not suspect. In the meantime their products should be boycotted in favour of fair trade certified chocolates some of which are available from other major brands as well as many smaller companies.
Unless cocao is certified Fairtrade there can be no guarantee that either child slavery, child labor or underpaid adults are not being exploited.
Lindt and Ferroro Rocher - take a small hit to your profits and pay the Fairtrade premium or be prepared to be targeted for the unethical exploiters you are!
Re: Tell Lindt and Ferrero to stamp out child slave labour ...
I just made sure I bought no chocolate from Max Bremmer, and brought Aussie made Easter eggs for the family
Where was the cocoa from?
Jimbo. There is more to ethics than boycotting Israel. Where does he cocoa come from in the "Aussie made" chcocolate come from. 75% of the worlds cocoa comes from the Ivory Coast where the problem with child slavery exists. Australia does not have a cocoa industry. The only way to ensure your chocolate is slave free to is buy the fair trade labelled ones - some of which is made in Australia.
Re: Tell Lindt and Ferrero to stamp out child slave labour ...
Dear all, thank you for getting in touch about this very important issue. Lindt strongly condemns child labor and remains committed to eradicating it from cocoa production. To that end, over the last few years, Lindt has initiated a number of important steps within in its cocoa supply chain and dedicated US $5 million to address this highly complex issue. Please read more on our commitment and stance against child labor here: http://bit.ly/IFC3W9
Greetings from Switzerland
Re: Tell Lindt and Ferrero to stamp out child slave labour ...
Hello everybody,
it is a sad truth. Of course the child workers on cocoa plants in Ivory Coast and other Westafrican countries aren't the only children exploited like this.
But there's a Danish filmmaker, his name is Miki Mistrati and his film "The Dark side of Chocolate" and he's very engaged in this matter. If you get a chance to watch this film, I really recommend you to do so!
Here's a trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y882AajKo1s