KitKat, a brand of Swiss food and beverage giant Nestlé, will be manufactured using only sustainable sourced cocoa beginning in the first quarter of 2016, the brand announced this week.
According to Nestlé, KitKat already uses sustainably sourced cocoa in products sold in certain markets, but this new announcement extends the practice worldwide.
Sandra Martinez, Head of Confectionery for Nestlé, said:
“We’re delighted to be a flag bearer for the industry, as the first global chocolate brand to announce such a move,” said Sandra Martinez, head of confectionery for Nestlé. “Sustainable cocoa sourcing helps safeguard the livelihoods of farming communities and delivers higher quality cocoa beans. This announcement will only strengthen consumer trust in KitKat as a responsible brand.”
The initiative, which coincides with KitKat's 80th birthday, is part of Nestlé’s commitment to source 150,000 tons of sustainably produced cocoa by 2017 via the Nestlé Cocoa Plan.
KitKat is manufactured by Nestlé for all global markets with the exception of the U.S. where the chocolate candy is produced by the Hershey Company. However, Hershey announced earlier this year that KitKat will be one of four of its brands (the others being Hershey’s, Kisses and Brookside) to be manufactured using only sustainably sourced cocoa by 2016.
