Luker Chocolate is celebrating the completion of The Cacao Effect, a five-year initiative that the company said positively impacted over 6,000 rural families in Colombia. The closing event was held on 24 November 2023 in Bogotá, Colombia, and showcased...
Julia Ocampo, vice president of cacao sourcing & sustainability at Luker Chocolate, tells Food Manufacture a little about herself and her role in our next instalment of the exclusive series 'All in a Day's Work'.
Cocoa production is decisively linked with women, and sustainable value chains are, too. However, how will their roles differ with the upcoming EU legislation on deforestation, and in a broader issue, will it threaten cocoa and chocolate exporters?
With 95% of exported beans classed as ‘fine flavour cacao’, Colombia's reputation in the world of chocolate is unparalleled, and after a successful showing at Seattle’s NorthWest Chocolate Festival by a quartet of artisanal companies, the word is...
The Women in Cocoa & Chocolate Network (WINCC) has announced an especially convened online session with Colombia’s Cordillera Chocolate to explore how the upcoming EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) could provide opportunities for women empowerment...
Cargill, one of the world’s largest cocoa suppliers, has been ordered by a Brazilian court to pay 600,000 reais ($120,185) as indemnity for allegedly buying cocoa from farms where child labour or forced work has been identified.
Recognition of its B2B division reaffirms Grupo Nutresa's commitment to globalisation and the purpose of brands such as Cordillera in developing businesses with a sustainable vision.
The Swiss company said it is tripling the amount invested in the last four years in its chocolate and biscuit operations in Brazil to 2.7bn reais ($550.8 million) for the next three years.
A new initiative to promote innovation in Colombia’s cocoa sector has been launched with grants and awards for projects that promote peace building and forest conversation.
The importance to the cocoa sector of female farmers has been increasingly recognised in the past decade with the introduction of specific support for female-led Fairtrade cooperatives in West Africa, along with initiatives from other actors in different...
In June 2022, PRONATEC opened the first organic cocoa processing facility in Switzerland, located in Beringen, near the company’s headquarters in Winterthur. A year on, ConfectioneryNews caught up with MD/CEO David Yersin to find out how the new plant...
In the rugged landscapes of rural Colombia, where conflict and adversity have cast a shadow for over 50 years, an unlikely hero has emerged: cocoa. Beyond its delectable taste and aroma, cocoa is proving to be a powerful force for driving peace and prosperity...
Swiss-based Jacobs Foundation, along with the Colombian Ministry of Education and Fundación Empresarios por la Educación, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to contribute to the improvement of the holistic learning outcomes of children in Colombia...
It is not every day that you get to plant your own sustainable cocoa tree, but I was allowed the honour by the team at Compañía Nacional de Chocolates on a visit to its Guacamayas Farm in Urabá, Antioquia, in Colombia, to see the work underway to boost...
Colombian B2B sustainable chocolate brand Cordillera Chocolates is launching a long-term strategy to develop the roles of female cocoa growers with a strong emphasis on entrepreneurship and leadership.
Launched in October 2018 at the World Cocoa Foundation’s (WCF) Partnership Meeting in São Paulo, CocoaAction Brasil is coming to the end of its initial five-year cycle. The recent publication of an Impact Report reveals how it has helped cocoa regain...
PRONATEC, an owner-run Swiss family company that maintains long-standing partnerships with cooperatives in the countries of origin, has been a pioneer in the global organic and Fairtrade movement for 45 years. In 2022, it opened its own impressive and...
Digital payments are increasingly accepted in cocoa-growing origins and after decades of farmer-level cash transactions, cocoa farmers in Brazil and Ecuador were the first in Barry Callebaut’s supply chain to go digital with payments.
Colombian Chocolate Manufacturer Luker Chocolate has announced it has acquired a majority stake in Slovakian Lyra Group in a deal that will strengthen Luker’s product capabilities and increase flexibility in logistics for European clients.
Mondelēz International has announced net revenues grew 8.1% year-on-year in the third quarter this year, driven by stronger pricing and volume. The Chicago-headquartered company also raised its full-year results forecasts and announced more price hikes...
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s presidential election win in Brazil will make it easier for food and beverage companies to comply with their zero-deforestation commitments, it has been claimed.
Sustainability has rapidly evolved from a check box exercise for many food companies to something that impacts decision making throughout the supply chain. But how are firms measuring sustainability, how reliable is industry data in this respect, and...
The European Cocoa Forum, held recently in Rome, Italy, was marked by frank and open discussions on how best to safeguard and direct the future of the hugely important global of the cocoa sector, said Paul Davis, European Cocoa Association (ECA) president.
Colombia’s Cordillera Chocolates is a world pioneer in cocoa development. Established almost 60 years ago it has been training cocoa growers in various areas of agricultural practices, sustainability issues, disease control and productivity – and the...
Six of the world’s largest food and agribusiness companies have developed a new method to tackle deforestation and grassland conversion for soy crops in Brazil’s biodiversity-rich Cerrado region, which neighbours the Amazon.
The alarming UN climate change report was put out over a week ago, but UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ “code red for humanity” message still haunts many as humans continue to cause much of the extreme weather by emitting greenhouse gases.
The Mexican bakery giant posted new highs for the second quarter – with a 16.2% increase in sales and adjusted EBITDA growing nearly 37% – as it motivated to revitalise those channels and categories that suffered during the pandemic.
A coalition of South American banana growers have warned that the price they receive from European retailers is unsustainable after it emerged Aldi will cut the amount it pays for the fruit next year.
Chile's Algramo sells branded goods in reusable packaging, saving money for manufacturers - such as Nestlé and Unilever - and reducing plastic waste. “We keep packaging in the economy and out of the environment,” it says.
We talk to Tetra Pak about its packaging made from “fully traceable” Brazilian sugarcane certified by Bonsucro. “The decision to source in Brazil is part of our sustainability commitment,” says the company’s director of sourcing and manufacturing.
Starting in Mexico and Brazil, Nestlé will plant three million trees, restore degraded ecosystems and help farmers switch to agroforestry methods in a bid to make its supply chain more resilient.
A commitment to transparency and traceability can have a real ROI when it convinces consumers that a brand aligns with their ideals, said an official with Gaia Herbs.
Certified sustainable palm oil supplier Agropalma's investment in a specialty ingredients refinery has allowed Brazilian manufacturers to source key ingredients, such as cocoa butter substitute, domestically, it says.
For the sixth consecutive year, baked-goods company Grupo Bimbo topped the Merco ranking of companies with the best corporate responsibility and governance practices in Mexico.
Over one-fifth (21.3%) of fish sold in markets in Buenos Aires province is not the species labeled on-pack, according to a recent study, prompting calls for stricter regulations nationwide.
GriYum and Hakkuna, two cricket companies from Mexico and Brazil, talk to us about why they think insect protein has the potential to make food in Latin America more nutritious and sustainable.
Latin America's food system requires "a biological transformation" in order to become more sustainable, embracing both biotechnology and digitalization as well as traditional farming practices and native foods, according to one expert.
Leading organic brand Korin is supplying GMO-free chicken to Carrefour Brazil, which will help it bring healthy, certified sustainable meat to a large number of people, its managing director says.
As Mexico becomes the latest country in Latin America to set national plastic-reduction goals, increasing numbers of Latinos are looking for plastic-free packaging options, according to market analysts. But how feasible is going plastic-free?
Farmer Connect and IBM are partnering with leading coffee manufacturers and brands to improve ‘traceability, efficiency and fairness’ in the coffee supply chain by leveraging blockchain technology.
Julian Mellentin, food and beverage consultant at New Nutrition Business takes us through the emerging and developing trends impacting nutrition in the LATAM region today, and most importantly, what producers and marketeers need to consider moving into...
Growing palm oil on degraded pasture instead of deforested land can reduce net ecosystem carbon losses by 99.7% and results in a crop that is almost completely carbon neutral, according to a Colombian study.
Replacing traditional fertilizer use with animal manure-based options is so important for agriculture and nutrition around the world, including Latin America’s dairy farms, says FrieslandCampina.
Coffee and cocoa farmers often grow avocado and mango as part of sustainable agroforestry systems - but these are vulnerable to climate change and should be swapped for more resilient crops, according to a recent study.
From blockchain to crop monitoring with drones, smallholder cocoa producers in Honduras are digitizing their production thanks to a project led by the Inter-American Development Bank.
Bonsucro is a global multi-stakeholder organization that aims to promote sustainable sugarcane production, processing and trade through voluntary certification.
Chilean salmon is the country’s biggest export product but also the biggest user of antibiotics, which could cause a backlash as consumer concern over antimicrobial resistance increases, according to researchers. Sustainable certification could be the...
