Hershey’s commitment to improving cocoa farmer livelihoods and ensuring a long-term sustainable cocoa supply is unwavering. Solving the many challenges within cocoa production, such as low incomes, poverty, child labor and environmental protection will be possible only through collaboration and cooperation across industry, governments, and civil society. We look forward to continuing to engage with the governments of Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana in the spirit of our longtime mutual collaboration and partnership to advance our shared goals.

We are fully participating in the LID for cocoa purchases already made from the 2020/2021 crop as we buy a substantial supply sourced from Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana. And we will continue to participate in the LID to support cocoa farmer livelihoods going forward. We recognize the importance and the value of the LID as a means to reach and improve the lives of farmers across the entire Ivorian and Ghanaian cocoa farming industry, not just the ones directly involved in our programs.

Industry sustainability programs, such as ours, complement and strengthen efforts to positively impact cocoa-growing communities and we remain ready, willing and able to continue these important program such as child labor monitoring and remediation, farmer training, environmental protection, and childhood nutritional supplements. We are eager to move ahead with our sustainability programs so farmers continue to receive the benefits provided by our on-the-ground programs as well as the price premium for certified cocoa.