Blommer Chocolate Company, the largest cocoa processor and chocolate manufacturer in North America, announces a new sustainability initiative supporting cocoa farmers in Cote d’ Ivoire, Africa. The Livelihood, Infrastructure, Food & Technology program, L.I.F.T. Cocoa, provides the ability to make a serious impact on the daily lives of cocoa farmers by providing access to life’s basic needs, including clean water, nutritional food, health care and basic education. With this new initiative within the L.I.F.T. program, a portion of the proceeds from Blommer’s Founder’s Reserve line of chocolate has built the infrastructure to provide clean drinking water to villagers in Cote d’ Ivoire.
To launch this initiative, Founder’s Reserve directly funded the building of water wells with borehole pumps that have begun providing clean water to thousands of individuals in Baleyo and Koffibakro. Blommer chose these villages because most of the current water supply is collected from surrounding ponds and hand-dug wells that are exposed to contamination and to drying out during the dry season. The planned wells will provide safe drinking water to 300 families representing nearly 3,000 people.
“Blommer has long been a steward in pioneering sustainable cocoa farming and advancing farmers’ livelihoods around the globe,” said Steve Blommer, Vice President Business Development. “As an industry leader, we believe sustainability efforts in cocoa communities provide value at every touch point in the supply chain, through improved and consistent product quality and a sustainable future for cocoa farming families.”
As a global cocoa processor and ingredient chocolate supplier, Blommer Chocolate Company’s sustainability initiatives focus on the critical need of farmer support in their endeavor to achieve economic viability for generations to come as well as the vital importance of making accessible the infrastructure necessary for a thriving community. The LIFT Cocoa program was created in 2015 and is one of many sustainability programs the company offers.
