Editorials
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MIA: establishing a unique impact in the chocolate supply chain
27 January 2020Sustainability and supply chain ethics are often the centre of discussion in the chocolate industry, especially when it comes to cocoa sourcing. Recently, large brand owners like Mondelēz International and national UK retailers such as Sainsbury’s have created proprietary systems to take a more customised approach to their supply chain partners. So, how can brands measure and speak about their impact beyond the established fair-trade systems? Can brands take a customised approach to make a positive impact on supplier communities? How can these unique stories be communicated to consumers? At the 2019 London Chocolate Forum, I used MIA as a case study to explain our mission to create positive impact through a holistic approach to chocolate and supply partners in Africa. We are exploring how this higher purpose impacted brand values, our Made-In-Africa production model, pack design and our relationships with market partners (importers / distributors, retailers, consumers). We also look at how we can be measuring the impact activities and craft clear messages that speak to consumers. Identifying impact Impact initiatives most often fall under one of two categories: environment or social. Environmental impact can be related to cultivation of raw ingredients, the packaging we use or the way a product is transported. Some current hot topics are palm oil production, the use of plastics, recycled packaging and sulphur content of maritime fuel. Social issues often revolve around fair pay, child labour and women’s rights, but there are many more issues that need to be addressed if we are to create a better world, especially in developing countries where government programmes are weakest, and people are most vulnerable to exploitation. Whether you work with a food brand or another business, the answer to the question ‘Where can we create positive impact?’ is within your organisation. Nobody knows your business like you do and no one is better positioned to figure out what can be done to create improvements in the supply chain or by using the business as a vehicle to champion an important cause. There are inevitably other businesses that have good impact programmes that can provide ideas. These businesses don’t necessarily have to be in your field of work, but it always helps to have a few references that are close to home. In creating the MIA, we looked at different models that helped us identify the issues we wanted to address with a social impact food brand. We researched food brands Equal Exchange, Alter Eco and Ethiquable and studied two leading impact organisations: Fair Trade and the Whole Planet Foundation. Is the business the cause or does the business support a cause? Crucial to creating an impact programme is determining how it will be incorporated into your business. We make a simple distinction: the impact programme is part of the business itself or, the business is used to support an impact programme: The Business is the Cause – in this case, the very way the business is set up creates the impact. The impact is realised by doing business rather than creating a separate programme. This is easiest to do at the outset, but it does not necessarily have to involve a full-scale change to an existing business. An existing business can make a positive impact by changing how some products / ingredients are sourced – organic, fair trade, local, etc – or the way some part of the business operates (fuel-efficient transport, water-saving taps, etc)? The Business Supports a Cause – Even if a business does not change the way it operates, the business platform can be used to raise funds for a cause that is important to the industry, employees or customers. For example, a food brand that is not able to change an environmentally destructive ingredient like soy can raise funds for reforestation projects. At MIA, we mixed the two approaches above. We had founding members with significant experience in the social development sector, chocolate and African food supply chains, so we conducted research on farmer livelihoods, food manufacturing and the distribution of wealth from value-added production. What we found gave us the conviction that MIA must be the cause. Measuring impact Before finalising an impact programme, it’s important to be sure you can measure the results, so you can communicate them to your customers and suppliers. For MIA, we chose a combination of results to measure: Indicators used in the market for comparable projects Indicators specific to our impact programme and good for internal evaluation Indicators that are easy for consumers and other audiences to understand As examples, we measure the following results for the different aspects of our supply chain in Africa: Global: We have indicators that apply to all activities. These are livelihood days and full-time jobs. Specific to Cocoa Sourcing: Kilos of cocoa purchased, hectares of trees protected, and CO2 sequestered. Specific to Chocolate Making: Kilos o ...
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A message from your editor: Rise above it and save the world!
24 January 2020Many of you might have heard that some unfair rumours have been spread about my family and my business here at Kennedy’s. Those of you that have seen emails coming in from the UK saying that we are actually closing down this year (yeah really!) will know, obviously that these are damaging, completely untrue and totally unsubstantiated. So, if you have received such an email please send this to me for my legal team. It’s amazing that some have to go to such levels to try and take business from you. I think we all come across competitors that practice defamation from time to time, but in the end this, luckily will always fail. Kennedy’s are doing brilliantly. We have another nearly 100-page bumper edition of our January 20 ISM issue, (a record for an Interpack year), plus a new web site, a brand-new App, and a huge record-breaking centenary London Chocolate Forum coming shortly. Yes, the next LCF will be on the 26th Oct 2020 in a really amazing luxury hotel to celebrate our ten-year anniversary of this chocolate event. So, don’t miss the party! In the mean time I am still investigating farms all over Ecuador, though it could be years before we eventually get out there as we had to turn down the farms that we saw last month. Yes we turned down the last farm and don’t actually have one now. So the story goes on and changes; that’s life, we are all living stories and playing the game. But it’s a real story and opening the doors for me directly into the heart of the cocoa industry; literally where no one has been before. I recently interviewed the Minister of Agriculture last month and I am due to see the Vice President of Ecuador in his private house next month! That’s cool, it’s an amazing country and has the largest single untouched and remotest area of Amazon jungle in the world. And I am being flown to it with my family! And now I hear that the Chinese are trying to buy this from Ecuador to drill for oil. Which must be stopped! We must help them. We can stop these things; consumers, us, humans; whatever we decide to call ourselves. But through crowd funding, and joint efforts the Amazon could be saved; it should not be for sale. Anyway, I am meeting the Vice President of Ecuador and his gang to offer my help. So for the Kennedy family and Kennedy’s as a business even; it’s time to start saving the planet. I always like to pick the hard ones, right? Though it’s possible we may not be moving to Ecuador for years, at least we are, like many of you, doing amazing things for others. And that’s all that matters. C U in Cologne next month. If any of you are there let me know and we can hook up and save the world! Angus
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Food ethics: a decision-making tool for the chocolate industry - by Ralph Early
04 November 2019Food scientist, ethicist and university lecturer Ralph Early gave a lecture at the London Chocolate Forum in early October on the difficulty food brings when it comes to the effects on the environment – in this exclusive segment, Early elaborates on the chocolate industry and what needs to be done in order to sustain an ethically-driven future for the industry…. Chocolate is a remarkable substance. For many consumers it is indeed one of the most enjoyable, even addictive of food products. It gifts a seductive mouthfeel as its texture transforms while, at the same time, releasing distinctive and completely irresistible flavours and aromas: a consequence of some 600 active compounds providing unique sensory experiences extending from mellow sweetness to intense bitterness. Chocolate, though, is not a necessary foodstuff. It is a luxury and here, perhaps, lies its Achilles heel. Citizens concerned with environmental protection and issues of human rights in food production, some of whom are increasingly vocal and are currently focused on other parts of the global food system, could readily switch to questioning the chocolate industry’s business models and ethical status, as well as the need even to consume the confection. At first sight this may seem improbable but observing citizen-led movements standing against industrial harms to the planet, as well as noting the speed with which concerns about single-use plastics have grown, the possibility of activists’ focussing on the chocolate industry’s behaviours is not inconceivable. Certainly, it’s something that CEOs and directors of chocolate businesses should factor into risk management strategies. In considering threats to their industry, business leaders might, for instance, ask what if anything could catalyse wider public concerns and how related threats should be avoided. In this they should consider whether the moral values implied by the three pillars of corporate social responsibility – People, Planet, Profit – are demonstrated appropriately throughout the chocolate value chain. On checking, they will find that they are not. While many businesses have taken great strides to address e.g. issues of environmental sustainability and worker exploitation, this cannot be claimed for all. A study1 undertaken by Sheffield University reported forced labour in cocoa production, while slavery2 is evidenced in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. CEOs and directors might also ask if it is morally consistent for an industry which emphases in advertisements the happiness it brings to consumers, to conceivably use raw materials produced by workers denied happiness through loss of liberty. They should note also other moral issues which give pause, including e.g. deforestation for cocoa production3, imbalance of power in the value chain causing failure to reward cocoa growers fairly, and the negative environmental impacts of chocolate manufacture itself. If the chocolate industry is to achieve long-term sustainability and the elimination of human rights abuses etc., change is required. Some businesses are already addressing negative environmental impacts, e.g. through the development of environmentally sensitive packaging, while human rights issues are being tackled by fair trade initiatives. Even so, many businesses still need to be more progressive if they are to manifest sustainable and morally just business arrangements. They will need to rethink their supply chains and incorporated activities with the aim of creating systems which are, in essence, Ecological by Design and Ethical by Design. To achieve this, food ethics methodology can be invaluable, especially to CEOs and directors as primary moral agents. When ethical analysis is placed at the centre of decision-making processes (Figure 1) appeal to ethical theory e.g. deontological ethics, concerning notions of duty, rights and justice, as well as utilitarianism, which aims at the maximisation of happiness, can give confidence that business decisions are morally right and ethically defensible. Take for example confectionery advertisements which target children who are incontestably vulnerable consumers. Food ethics analysis integrated into marketing strategies can, for instance, protect against ill-advised decisions with consequent public censure and harms to brand image, such as might be caused by enticing children with confectionery tokens to exchange for sports equipment. Figure 1 Ethics though is not the whole story. The Stockholm Resilience Centre4 has identified nine planetary boundaries (Figure 2) which define “a safe operating space for humanity”. The development of sustainable food systems, including chocolate value chains, demands respect for the environment and biodiversity – a moral value – and the protection and enhancement of nature’s ecosystem services. The clearing of rainforests for cocoa production typifies actions undertaken by or on behalf of chocolate companies which are likely to run counter to the princip ...
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Chewing it over: gum industry on the rise!
01 March 2016The international chewing gum industry is constantly evolving, and research by organisation Technavio forecasts further growth over the next four years. Kennedy’s rounds up these findings – both in the UK and internationally – and explains why the sugar-free trend is here to stay A new report by market research organisation Technavio, entitled Global Chewing Gum Market – Market Analysis Report 2015-2019, provides some very interesting insight into the state of the chewing gum world today. Looking at the global confectionery market of 2014, we can see that gum sales account for 15.6 percent of total sales – trailing chocolate and candy sales, which account for 55.2 percent and 29.1 percent of sales respectively. However, the chewing gum segment is picking up pace, and Technavio’s report explains why.
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Innovations in Cocoa
28 January 2016Here, Kennedy’s highlights some recent innovations in cocoa that are set to shape the industry’s future Alterations in yeast fermentation of cocoa to produce new flavours New research has emerged from Belgian scientists, working in collaboration with cocoa company Barry Callebaut, about changing flavour profiles of chocolate through alteration of the yeast cultures in the fermentation process of cocoa beans.
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Sugar-Free Versus A Tax On Sugar
28 January 2016Does the Confectionery Industry Have Time To Act? By Angus Kennedy 53% of UK consumers are now in favour of a UK sugar tax. But with only 2.3% of UK confectionery products being sugar-free - is the UK sugar free confectionery market about to take off?
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