Since 2015, Nestlé has been using certified sustainable cocoa for all the chocolate and biscuits we sell in the UK and Ireland. Our cocoa is certified by Rainforest Alliance and together, we are working to help cocoa farming co-operatives meet comprehensive social, economic and environmental standards.
You may remember that when KitKat moved from Fairtrade to Rainforest Alliance certification last year, we promised to support our cocoa farmers in the Côte d’Ivoire through the transition. Since then, we’ve been working hard on initiatives to do just that.
These initiatives, which are in addition to our regular Nestlé Cocoa Plan activities, include our innovative household income accelerator pilot. This is all about helping farmers to make their farms and their livelihoods more profitable – and we’ll be giving an update on the project this autumn.
We also provided £500,000 for community projects and asked our farmer cooperatives for their ideas on how this money could best support their local communities. This is just some of what has been purchased and achieved since then:
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Eight schools built or refurbished
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Five water pumps bought or refurbished
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Two health centres built and equipped
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96 sets of personal protective equipment to help keep farmers safe
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66 spraying kits to protect crops
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236 pruning kits to help make crops more productive
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16 motorbikes to help farmers get around more easily
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10 new warehouses built for storage
To find out more about how we are working to deliver better farming, better lives and better cocoa, visit our website: https://www.nestlecocoaplan.com/