These men accepted the petitions on behalf of the CEO, saying they would pass them on.  We were unfortunately not able to engage with anyone at Hershey about the demands of the campaign, yet this was still an important step.  In addition to the stack of petitions we delivered to the CEO, we also sent a copy of the petitions to all of  of the members of Hershey’s board.  If the board members were not aware of the concerns of their customers before, they are now!

With Halloween only days away, chocolate companies are in the limelight.  We’re pointing the spotlight to Hershey in particular because the company lags far behind its competitors when it comes to tracing its supply chain to prevent abusive child labor.  We are hoping this extra attention Hershey is receiving this year will push the company to do right by their customers, and the children of West African cocoa-growing communities.

Hershey, will you raise the bar and commit to developing a Fair Trade Hershey bar by Halloween? That would be sweet.