Mars to overhaul cocoa supply chain with new sustainability scheme

Mars Wrigley Confectionery, one of the world’s largest buyers of cocoa, has launched a new sustainability plan that aims to tackle what it describes as the “broken” cocoa supply chain.
The maker of M&Ms and Snickers said that it is overhauling its cocoa supply chain in a bid to tackle problems that the wider sector has so far failed to address including deforestation, child labour, and poverty. Named Cocoa for Generations, Mars' latest sustainability strategy plans to place the interest of the smallholder farmer at its centre, safeguard children and forests, and create a way for both cocoa farmers and cocoa-growing communities to thrive. The US-based firm is spending $1bn on the scheme over the next ten years and, by 2025, it has said that all the cocoa it buys will be responsibly sourced.