As a leader in the global supply chain, chocolate manufacturer Barry Callebaut is looking to play a critical social role in continuing to produce food products during these challenging times. In cocoa origin countries, this means working to ensure that its operations do not put employees or cocoa farmers at risk and do not contribute to the inadvertent spread of the coronavirus.
In compliance with World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, local regulations and government directives on COVID-19, the company has halted all activities that require:
- The unnecessary movement of Barry Callebaut’s Sourcing and Sustainability employees from cities to farms or villages
- Large gatherings of farmers or farmer communities
- Close interactions with farmers’ families, households or communities (e.g. census, data collection, trainings, etc.)
- Third-party labor (e.g. providing support for sustainability activities)
Barry Callebaut has also identified activities which continue to be implemented through locally based coaches who live in farming communities. These coaches will continue to be updated with the latest guidelines on COVID-19 and will support farmers while respecting governmental and Barry Callebaut guidelines.
The company also looks to support and protect at-risk communities in its supply chain, which are already struggling in these areas. To do so, it has committed to:
- Distribute official WHO posters with COVID-19 protective instructions to farmer groups, via local coaches
- Sensitize farmers on the risk of COVID-19, and provide each family with soap, via local coaches while interacting for official purposes
- Support governmental dissemination of evolving and urgent information to remote communities, via our coaching networks
