Raise the Bar Hershey!

There is an excellent article "Is There Child Slavery in Your Chocolate?" by John Robbins from the September 24, 2010 Huffington Post that I urge you to read. He gives anecdotal and solid info, with many links about chocolate, including the following report.

"In 2006, Hershey acquired the Artisan Confections Company21, which produces Dagoba Chocolate and Scharffen Berger chocolate22. By acquiring the company, Hershey inherited Dagoba’s cocoa purchasing policies for its specific branded items, which include the “Conacado Bar” that is made using cocoa from the Conacado Fair Trade cocoa cooperative in the Dominican Republic. Dagoba’s drinking chocolate, syrup, and cacao powder are also Fair Trade Certified™.

"Of 22 different chocolate bars, baking products, and drinking chocolate produced by Dagoba, seven are made using Fair Trade Certified™ cocoa. No products under the Hershey label outside of the Dagoba subsidiary use Fair Trade Certified™ cocoa. When considered as part of Hershey’s total product line, these Fair Trade Certified™ products constitute less than one percent of the company’s offerings."

Download the entire report "Time to Raise the Bar: The Real Corporate Social Responsibility Report for the Hershey Company" HERE.