Greedy chocolate companies are selling you a sweet lie: they talk about sustainability but their chocolate can often be produced by children, and is destroying the rainforest.
One of the worst ones is called Storck. Storck is the second biggest chocolate company in Germany and supplies the supermarket Aldi. Storck’s CEO, Axel Oberwelland, is worth over 5 billion Euros but cannot guarantee that all his company’s cocoa farmers are paid a living wage, or stop child labour, or halt the destruction of our planet’s precious rainforests. Because of Storck’s lack of transparency and dodgy track record, it has been rated as one of the worst chocolate companies in the leading scorecard of the industry. [1]
All cocoa farmers worldwide deserve a fair shot. Paying them a fair income for their cocoa would lift millions of farmers out of extreme poverty. But today most cocoa farmers earn under $1 a day. Their voice doesn’t reach Stork’s CEO, but Alex Oberwelland’s company sits in Germany/Europe: as Germans/Europeans we are not only closer to him, but also to the institutions that can force him to be fair to people and the planet. With your help we can put a spotlight and real pressure on Storck and help save the rainforest as well as thousands of workers getting poverty wages.
Tell Storck to stop being greedy!
If you reach for a ‘Merci’ chocolate or a ‘Toffifay’ sweet you are reaching for one of Stork's products. This company is not just abusing farmers – it may be hurting forests too. Storck has failed to guarantee deforestation-free sourcing of cocoa beans, to protect rainforests and habitats of elephants and chimpanzees.
But we can change things for the better: Unlike Storck, more than 33 chocolate companies have already committed to cleaning up their act and stop the destruction of rainforests, in the Cocoa & Forests Initiative.
We also know that we can change companies: WeMove Europe supporters have helped us to uncover the dirty business of Ferrero in 2019 (which makes Nutella) and we put the story on the front page of newspapers. [2]
Storck has been dragging its feet and so far has failed to guarantee deforestation-free cocoa, or even to join the “Cocoa & Forests Initiative” that wants to protect our forests. We can’t let Stock's greedy CEO get away with this!
We don’t have much time. If chocolate companies like Storck don’t act soon, there will be no Ivorian rainforest left at all.
Satellite imagery shows that massive deforestation for cocoa is continuing in West Africa, Indonesia, Peru, Cameroon and Ecuador. If we put the pressure on Storck now, we can help ensure that rainforests will be better protected. Saving the rainforest from deforestation is a big challenge – but we can do it!
Tell Storck to stop destroying rainforests worldwide!
Storck makes a huge profit from its image and reputation, and is sensitive to public pressure. If we expose how Storck’s cocoa is produced, the company’s reputation can take a massive hit – and that’s the one thing Storck cannot afford because it’d negatively impact their profits. Your pressure could even ensure Storck loses its juicy contract with Aldi, which buys a lot of chocolate from Storck.
Ask Storck to commit to deforestation-free cocoa, and help save forests & farmers worldwide!
