Mondelēz International announced today that its iconic chocolate brand Milka will join Cocoa Life, the company’s industry-leading sustainable cocoa sourcing program, as part of the company’s commitment to source all its cocoa sustainably over time.
Milka tablets across Europe will feature a new packaging design displaying the Cocoa Life logo starting in August 2018. By the end of 2019, the company expects to have the entire Milka chocolate portfolio in Europe join the program. Milka follows other Mondelēz International brands that are sustainably sourced through the Cocoa Life program, including Cadbury Dairy Milk in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the U.K. and Ireland, Côte d’Or in Belgium, the Netherlands and France, Freia and Marabou in the Nordics and Oreo cookies across Europe.
“We’re extremely proud to see Milka, our largest chocolate brand in Europe, join Cocoa Life,” said Hubert Weber, Executive Vice President and President, Mondelēz Europe. “We’re seeing great success with the program and, with this move, we’re taking another big step toward our goal of reaching 200,000 farmers and one million people by 2022.”
Milka stands for quality chocolate and the use of the highest quality ingredients such as Alpine milk. This brand promise is now supported by joining the Cocoa Life program as well as ensuring that no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives are used in the chocolate used in Milka products.
Cocoa Life’s mission is to create a strong cocoa supply chain while transforming lives and livelihoods, addressing deforestation and building resilience to climate change across six cocoa origin countries: Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Indonesia, Dominican Republic, India and Brazil. By the end of 2017, the program reached 120,500 farmers in 1,085 communities, and distributed more than one million shade trees as part of a global effort on climate change. Through Cocoa Life, the company also increased its sourcing of sustainable cocoa to 35 percent, up 14 percentage points from 2016.
Independent verification has shown that in Indonesia’s Cocoa Life communities, farmers’ annual income increased 37 percent and cocoa yield 10 percent.
“As one of the world’s largest chocolate manufacturers, we reach millions of consumers with brands such as Milka,” said Weber. “We want to use this scale to drive positive change for the communities on which we depend, and to work with farmers so we can continue to build strong relationships for the long term. Now more than ever, our consumers care about their food and want to know that what they’re eating is sustainable.”
For more information, see the most recent Cocoa Life Progress Report at https://www.cocoalife.org/progress/cocoa-life-progress-report-2017.
