New members join cocoa foundation

The Confectionery Manufacturers of Australasia, whose members include Cadbury Schweppes, Ferrero, Nestlé and Wrigley, has become a member of the World Cocoa Foundation.

The group was one of six new members admitted at the 13th partnership meeting of the foundation, which was formed in 2000 to promote economic and social development and environmental responsibility in cocoa-producing countries.

Bill Guyton, the foundation’s president, said at the meeting in Ecuador: ‘Today, we have nearly 70 member companies that are fully committed to driving economic and social development and environmental stewardship in cocoa-producing countries around the world. It’s only through such pre-competitive collaboration and in co-operation with our many programme and donor partners that we can drive meaningful and sustainable change on behalf of the world’s nearly four million cocoa-farming families.’