The two West African countries, Ghana and Ivory Coast, which represent two thirds of the world cocoa market, have launched a media offensive to denounce the attitude of multinationals in the supply of this product. For these two countries, the multinationals deliberately refuse to pay the special premium which amounts to 400 dollars per tonne.
Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire accuse the multinationals Mars and Hershey, two great American chocolate giants, of buying cocoa or butter without paying the premium allocated to planters and negotiated in 2019. At this rate, planters, including working conditions do not really improve, risk sinking into total misery.
In a press release, the first of its kind, the Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) and the Café Cacao Council (CCC) of Côte d’Ivoire are pushing for the entire contract to be respected for the survival of the planters . The two institutions denounce a conspiracy organized by the multinationals and announce the immediate elimination of all Hershey’s certification programs in both countries. Programs that ensure the purchase of cocoa according to ethical production criteria. This unprecedented situation makes a trader say that the Cocoboad and the CCC “will make noise because the press will get involved (…) Ethical issues have become important for Western consumers.”
The president of the National Agricultural Union for Progress in Côte d’Ivoire, Moussa Koné, finds the situation of the growers very worrying. They receive only 6% of the 1000 billion dollars generated per year by the cocoa and chocolate market in the hands of the big manufacturers.
The multinationals in question have shown their good faith by ensuring that they pay the DRD and help the planters.
