Just before World Day against Child Labor, hundreds of youth from the New York City area rallied outside Hershey’s store in Times Square. The young people, from second grade through high school, were calling on Hershey to stop child labor, forced labor and trafficking in its cocoa supply chain and to start using Fair Trade Certified cocoa.
Despite committing in 2001 to end child and forced labor in its chocolate, Hershey has not agreed to independently certify that the vast majority of the cocoa in its chocolate was produced in compliance with international labor rights standards. Ten years after Hershey said it would end this abuse in its supply chain, hundreds of thousands of young people continue to labor in hazardous conditions to produce cocoa in West Africa. It was inspiring to see young people in NYC speaking out against the abuse of children like them in order to produce their favorite candy.