Confectionery Live introduces Jon Walker

February 6, 2024

Ahead of the must-attend virtual event Confectionery Live happening this month, 21-22 February, we are pleased to announce our next speaker; Jon Walker, Senior Advisor, Cocoa at Fairtrade.

Jon Walker is the Senior Advisor for Cocoa for Fairtrade International, responsible for Fairtrade’s global cocoa business plan and working closely with teams around the world working to support producer organisations, develop markets, and define impact. Jon has worked in the food and agriculture sector for more than two decades, from brand experience to public sector food sustainability initiatives, to several roles within the Fairtrade system.

The importance of transparency in the cocoa supply chain was underscored by the announcement of the EUDR regulation, set to come into force at the end of this year – which outlines that product sold to consumers within the EU, including cocoa, must not be linked to deforestation.

Understanding the impacts of this regulation and how to be compliant has become crucial ahead of it coming into force.

In his session at Confectionery Live, Jon will discuss the regulation: as of 30 December 2024, access to deforestation risk management data will define what cocoa can enter the European Union. Cocoa producers that don’t have their own risk data will be at the mercy of their buyers, who most often have their own monitoring systems don’t necessarily share these data back to the cooperatives they buy from.

Jon will look at how can we prevent inequalities in trading relationships from growing with the implementation of the EU deforestation regulation? What is Fairtrade doing, and what have we learned in piloting a geolocation mapping and deforestation risk management process in Côte d’Ivoire? And most importantly, how do we go beyond monitoring to preventing deforestation, and rebuilding healthy, sustainable and sustaining forest ecosystems?

Join 1000+ attendees from 83 countries in attending Confectionery Live, the dedicated online platform for providing the latest insights and market trends for the global confectionery industry.

To make sure you don’t miss out on Jon’s session, register here.