6 MODERN PRODUCTION: Chocolate Factory: Modern Production - Globalization of Production
Chocolate factory: Modern Production - Globalization of Production
Cacao beans grown and processed into chocolate and its derivatives has become a global production in modern times. The growth of cacao has spread over the world from Mesoamerica, Central America, and South America along within twenty degrees of the equator in Africa, India, Indonesia, and lower North America.
South America went through a lot of changes - decolonization, the abolition of slavery, wars of independence, developed new methods of cacao productions such as tenant farming and medianeros. South America went through a cacao boom in Ecuador, but also went through a decrease in cacao production. Other countries began to plant cacao farms and compete in the cacao market. (Lecture 6)
Many European countries did land grabs in Africa, either by colonization or by treaty. This resulted in much of Africa belonging to everyone except themselves, leading to insurrections, wars, and slavery. There were also a variety of different colonization systems of the European countries.
However, this globalization of cacao production has brought many labor issues in its wake. Cacao plantations need vast amounts of labor to pick the cacao and process it. While slavery was outlawed in the eighteen hundreds, virtual slavery still exists in the form of people who are hired for labor for contracts, but who often die while working out their contracts. They are not allowed to go home, have vacation, have basic medical care, or be treated like human beings. They are basically enslaved, and many of them are children. (Lecture 6)
“About two-thirds of the world's cocoa supply comes from West Africa where, according to a 2015 U.S. Labor Department report, more than 2 million children were engaged in dangerous labor in cocoa-growing regions…” (Whoriskey 1)
Chocolate company representatives were brought together and signed a document pledging to try to remove the worst of the child labor practices on the farms that they get cacao from. However, that brought up many problems because the companies don’t know where they get one hundred percent of their cacao beans from. Many can only trace a percentage of the farms that supply the cacao, so that makes the problem difficult to solve when one can’t identify where their product comes from.
“...some of the biggest and best-known brands - Hershey, Mars and Nestlé…20 years after pledging to eradicate child labor, chocolate companies still cannot identify the farms where all their cocoa comes from, let alone whether child labor was used in producing it. Mars, maker of M&M's and Milky Way, can trace only 24 percent of its cocoa back to farms; Hershey, the maker of Kisses and Reese's, less …” (Whoriskey 1)
There was a document created in September 2001 labeled the Harkin-Engel Protocol. The Harkin-Engel Protocol was created by Senator Tom Harkin and U.S. Representative Eliot Engel with the Chocolate Manufacturers of America to address the problem of child labor.
This protocol outlined a plan to reduce the worst types of child labor in West Africa in four years. However, that did not come to pass. There were reviews in 2005, 2008, 2010-11, 2015-2018. However, child labor is still problematic for all chocolate companies that depend on cacao.
“Industry promises began in 2001 when, under pressure from the U.S. Congress, chiefs of some of the biggest chocolate companies signed a pledge to eradicate "the worst forms of child labor" from their West African cocoa suppliers…” (Whoriskey 1)
In terms of modern production of cacao, smaller farms predominate in Africa, and in the Ivory Coast, approximately 40% of certain areas are involved in cacao farming. There is an agreement called Fair Trade Chocolate where chocolate can be labeled that it was grown slave free so that people can trust that they are buying chocolate that is not tainted with child slavery.
(Lecture 6)
The world proportions of the production of cacao have changed over time. Africa leads production with up to 70 percent of the world’s cacao. The Americas are at 16 percent of world cacao production. What is astonishing is that five to six million small farmers are producing cacao in these areas, producing 75% to 80% of cacao, versus larger plantations. Farms are becoming more diversified and humane. Some are collectives. (Lecture 6)
The production of cacao beans has become a global production in modern times. As the information shows, cacao has spread over the world from its original place of growth, South America. This migration of the cacao plant is actually a good thing, in case of losses on one continent, there will still be chocolate for all on another continent. While Africa now produces the most cacao, the South American cacao is reputed to have the finest flavors, so is still highly desirable.
Bibliography
Balch, Oliver. Mars, Nestlé and Hershey to face child slavery lawsuit in US. The Guardian. Guardian.com 12 Feb 2021. 25 Nov 2023. <https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/feb/12/mars-nestle-and-hershey-to-face-landmark-child-slavery-lawsuit-in-us>
Harkin, Tom, and Elliot Engel, and the Chocolate Manufacturers Association. “Harkin-Engel Protocol: Protocol for the Growing and Processing of Cocoa Beans and Their Derivative Products in a Manner that Complies with ILO Convention 182 Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor.” Department of Agriculture (Doa.gov). Sep 2001.
Juarez-Dappe, Patricia. “History of Chocolate Class 429, Lecture 6.” California State University Northridge. Fall 2023. csun.edu.
Off, Carol. Bitter Chocolate : Investigating the Dark Side of the World’s Most Seductive Sweet. University of Queensland Press, 2006.
Westbrook, Nicholas. “Chocolate at the World’s Fairs, 1851 - 1964.” Class PDF online. “History of Chocolate Class 429, Lecture 7. Fall 2023.” (Chapter 46 from Grivetti, Louis., and Howard-Yana. Shapiro. Chocolate : History, Culture, and Heritage. Wiley, 2009). <https://csu-un.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01CALS_UNO/1debe11/alma991045695439702901>
Whoriskey, Peter, and Rachel Siegel. "Cocoa's child laborers." The Washington Post, Jun 10, 2019. ProQuest, https://libproxy.csun.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/cocoas-child-laborers/docview/2237428635/se-2.
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