The Hershey Company,a Pennsylvania-based manufacturer of chocolate and sugar confectionery products,has launched the Mexico Cocoa Project in collaboration with cocoa supplier Agroindustrias Unidas de Cacao,a member of the Ecom Cocoa Group,to reintroduce cocoa growing in southern Mexico.
Under the 10-year$2.8m initiative,Hershey and Ecom will educate farmers on farm renovation and Good Agricultural Practices(GAPs)and will distribute disease-tolerant cocoa trees to renew 1,000 hectares of farmland.The initiative will improve the livelihoods of more than 1,000 cocoa farmers and their families in the short term.
Hershey Mexico vice president and general manager Jorge Eduardo Pena said that the initiative will improve the livelihoods of cocoa farmers in Mexico by offering methods that enable to boost the productivity of cocoa farms,which will result in higher yields and incomes.
"Hershey has built a business in Mexico over the last 40 years that spans chocolate,flavored milk and more recently sugar confectionary,particularly spicy candy segment,"Pena said.
The Mexico Cocoa Project is one of The Hershey Company's cocoa sustainability programs globally and is a part of the company's commitment to corporate social responsibility and the environment.
