Mars, Inc. plans to triple its global cocoa yield through developing more disease-resistant clones and continuing to improve farmer practices based on genetic knowledge of cocoa.

In February, Associate Editor Alyse Thompson visited Finca El Cacao, a 2,500-hectare cocoa plantation in Nicaragua owned and operated by Alfred Ritter GmbH & Co. KG. The company, eager to open up its supply chain and highlight its progress in the Central American country, brought Alyse and German journalists to the plantation to show them how they do things.

Blommer Chocolate Co. has launched a new initiative under its sustainability program to further support cocoa farmers in Cote D’Ivoire. 

Mondelēz International’s Milka chocolate brand will join Cocoa Life — the company’s sustainable cocoa sourcing program — as part of its commitment to source all its chocolate products sustainably over time.

Olam International has launched the Olam Living Landscapes Policy, an approach to agricultural supply chains and landscape management designed to give more than it takes.

The Hershey Co. has launched the Cocoa For Good program, a comprehensive cocoa sustainability strategy designed to address the most pressing issues facing cocoa-growing communities: poverty, poor nutrition, at-risk youth and vulnerable ecosystems.

More than half of American consumers say they trust the Fairtrade label, new findings by research firms Globescan and Atlantic 57 reveal.

The Hershey Co. has joined the ranks of major cocoa and chocolate companies prohibiting new deforestation in its global cocoa supply chain, with the goal of stopping ongoing deforestation and protecting forests in cocoa-growing regions