Hershey: Child Labor, Trafficking & Forced Labor

Founded on 9 February 1894, the Hershey Corporation is the oldest and the largest chocolate manufacturing company in the United States and increasingly elsewhere throughout the world. It was founded by Milton S. Hershey as a subsidiary of his Lancaster Caramel Company. Headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania, its products are sold in 60 countries worldwide. The current CEO and President of this chocolate behemoth is John Bilbrey. Hershey claims that it’s the largest chocolatier in North America, with over $7.4 billion in annual revenues and over 80 brands.

On March 2012, Hershey Company was ordered to face a lawsuit by a public pension fund Louisiana Municipal Police Employees’ Retirement System (LAMPERS), a Hershey’s shareholder, seeking to force it to turn over records about cocoa from African farms that may use illegal child labor.

What is Child Labor?

The ILO defines child labor as:

• Work that deprives children of their potential and their dignity

• Work that deprives children of their childhood

• Work that is harmful to physical and mental development of children.

Chocolate Facts

The global chocolate industry in 2014 made $93.2 billion. Chocolate is a product of the cacao bean, which grows primarily in the tropical climates of Western Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The cacao bean is more commonly referred to as cocoa. . Each year, 600,000 tons of cocoa beans are consumed globally. Western African countries, mostly Ghana and the Ivory Coast, supply more than 70 percent of the world’s cocoa. The cocoa they grow and harvest is sold to a majority of chocolate companies, including Hershey. Other producers of cocoa beans are Indonesia, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Brazil.

Chocolate - Reason for Smiles or Tears?

In Western Africa, cocoa is a commodity crop grown primarily for export; 60 percent of the Ivory Coast’s export revenue comes from its cocoa. As the chocolate industry has grown over the years, so has the demand for cheap cocoa. On average, cocoa...