Label Mouse says:
Nestle's own scheme, as they self-regulate for their own benefit it has to be taken with a pinch of salt - but the aims are to be lauded on the few products where this label appears.
The idea is to make cocoa farming more profitable for farmers by giving them better-yielding cocoa trees and training them to use land sustainably. They also work to eliminate child labour, empower women and improve transparency in the supply chain. The main (and pretty much only) countries to benefit are Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.
The environmental aspects are particularly loose though, focus is really on 'sustainable yields for famers'. Nestle did launch a deforestation plan in 2021 and they are helping map rainforests to reduce impact of vulnerable areas.
There are official reports on the Cocoa Plan website so there is some transparency, but no report was published in 2022... blame the pandemic perhaps.
A new site launched in 2023 and new progress report was forthcoming!
It's all a bit hand wavy, 'mapping forests', 'training' and 'support' for the farmers and 'reaching 8,000 local people', but what they put into action is vague. They big-up their 'distribution of 1.1 million trees to local people', but what the people did with those trees isn't shown.
Better than nothing, but no where near the standards of Fairtrade or Rainforest Alliance.
They promise:
Cocoa Plan focusses on two areas; better farming, and better lives (for workers).
Farmers are offered training to help them reduce disease in crops, improve bean quality, rejuvenate plantations and manage sustainable land use.
Communities are also offered education and guidance around child labour. Nestle's aim is that this approach will lead to more sustainable cocoa production in the future.
So far Nestle say they've trained over 90,000 farmers in better practices and over 7,000 children said they no longer take part in child labour.
There are a lot of food labels out there, but its pretty unclear what they mean.
With the UK leaving the EU we're able to define our own regulations on how our food is produced, the impact on the environment and how the animals involved are cared for. This could be a good or a bad thing. The extra player in the mix is that brands are introducing their own schemes which can appear more eco-friendly than they actually are.
Label Mouse does the research to help you make more informed buying choices. Hope it's useful.
Suggestions and support welcome!
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