Coted’voire cries foul over alleged Hershey ICE cocoa deal

COTE D’IVOIRE HAS REACT ED to the purported move by multinational chocolate producers, Hershey, to purchase 30,000 tonnes of ‘cheap’ cocoa beans from the ICE New York features exchange, an attempt the West African country describes as a derailment to its plans for the Living Income Differential (LID) set up to alleviate the poverty level of smallholder farmers by providing them with a sustainable living income.

The world’s largest cocoa producing country alongside cocoa producing neighbour, Ghana recently initiated a plan to sell their first full cocoa crop this season under the new LID scheme that includes a price premium of $400 per tonne.

Harshey and other prominent chocolate companies had expressed support for the premium prices, in exchange for the governments of both countries to continually support their sustainability schemes.

However, news of Hershey striking a counter deal through the ICE exchange, which will allow the company to avoid paying the

LID for the beans, puts the agreement at risk.

As a result, Yves Kone, head of Le Couseil du CafeCacao (CCC), Coted’voire’s cocoa board, wrote to the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) industry group to express his displeasure.

“It is a conspiracy to defeat the concept of the floor price as known, and therefore not to grant a remunerative price to all cocoa producers in our countries,” the letter read in part.

Ghana’s cocoa regulatory body (Cocobod) has threatened to suspend chocolate companies’ sustainability schemes, which are used to assure consumers that their beans are ethically sourced, because of the Hershey action.

Kone also vowed to publicly name and shame companies and suspend the voluntary sustainability and certification programmes in Cote d’voire.

On the other hand, Hershey has released a statement in which it denied the allegations levelled against the company, stating that it has long supported initiatives aimed at improving the incomes and livelihoods of the local farmers.

“This includes supporting and participating this year in the Ivorian and Ghanaian Living Income Differential as we buy 2020/2021 season cocoa based on the needs of our business. All 2020/2021 cocoa purchased within our supply chain since the implementation of the LID in West African countries includes this price premium. Beans sold prior to the implementation of the LID would not include the premium,” the statement claimed.