Lindt cocoa provide chain lawsuit – overview
- Lindt faces US lawsuit over alleged youngster labour hyperlinks
- Grievance alleges deceptive human rights and sourcing commitments
- Plaintiff claims cocoa manufacturing concerned youngster labour for many years
- Lindt denies allegations and cites provide chain monitoring
- Case seeks advertising and marketing adjustments somewhat than monetary damages
Lindt & Sprüngli has been accused of deceptive shoppers over human rights in its cocoa provide chain.
The Swiss chocolate maker is being sued in a United States court docket over alleged use of kid labour in Ghana and the Ivory Coast.
In response to a grievance filed by public curiosity regulation agency Worldwide Rights Advocates and moved to Washington, DC federal court docket on 21 July, Lindt falsely assures shoppers it’s attempting to remove youngster labour from its provide chain and is dedicated to human rights.
The grievance additionally claims Lindt has recognized its cocoa is produced utilizing youngster labour for greater than 20 years.
Lindt’s response
“Lindt & Sprüngli takes the difficulty of kid labour very severely and strongly condemns all types of youngster labour and denies the allegations within the grievance,” mentioned a Lindt & Sprüngli spokesperson. “We’ve got provider protocols in place, and we systematically examine suspected instances of kid labour in our provide chain.”
Lindt’s public sustainability commitments embody its 2030 Sustainability Plan and the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program, which it says assist help cocoa-growing communities and tackle youngster labour dangers in its provide chain.
It additionally revealed a ‘Trendy Slavery Assertion‘, which discusses its technique to cut back the dangers, together with measures geared toward addressing youngster labour in cocoa sourcing by means of provider monitoring, remediation programmes and certification initiatives.
What the lawsuit seeks
The lawsuit doesn’t search damages. As an alternative, it seeks to cease what the plaintiff alleges are deceptive representations to shoppers relating to Lindt’s human rights commitments and efforts to sort out youngster labour.
Worldwide Rights Advocates haven’t but responded to request for remark.
