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A large US law firm accuses the companies of child labor
A large US law firm charges severely against the chocolate producers: they should use child labor and forced labor for themselves.
Nestlé (including KitKat, Choco Crossies, Lion, Nesquik), Mars (including Snickers, Mars, Twix, Bounty) and Hershey's, which is less represented here in Germany, are confronted with tough allegations: they're supposed to hide their cocoa suppliers put on child labor and forced labor in Ivory Coast. A well-known US law firm filed a class action lawsuit against them.
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Nestlé has already commented on the allegations. The company told the Swiss news agency AWP: "Child labor has no place in our supply chain."
The company stresses the need for proactive and long-term action by all actors to eradicate child labor in Côte d'Ivoire. Class actions like those in California are not suitable for this.
Nestlé makes it clear that the company is actively working against child labor: "We are taking measures to gradually eliminate child labor by examining each case and tackling the problem at its roots." For example, a lot of money is invested to improve the living conditions of cocoa farmers. And in Côte d'Ivoire there is also a surveillance system against child labor.
