User:Hershey2024/Ghirardelli Chocolate Company

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The planet is getting warmer, which means Ghirardelli has to rework their manufacturing process to adjust to the shift in temperatures. Climate change is having a significant impact on the cocoa industry which is directly effecting Ghirardelli. The warmer temperatures change where food can be grown, and how to grow food without hurting the environment. Ghirardelli has had a direct impact on climate change through their cocoa production, Although in recent years they have been taking many steps towards a more sustainable way of farming cocoa.

Ghirardelli gets their cocoa through the Lindt & Sprüngli's sustainable farming program. This farming program launched in 2008 in Ghana but has since expanded to the Cote d’Ivoire, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, and Peru. The majority of cocoa production under Lindt and Sprungli takes place in West Africa, and has contributed to a large part of deforestation and habitat loss. West Africa has been the hot spot for the majority of all cocoa production even before Ghirardelli joined Lindt & Sprüngli. The Guinean rain forest of West Africa, has reduced to 113,000 km2 at the start of the new millennium which was 18% of its original area. As stated, the Guinean rain forest has seen a large amount of deforestation take place as a result of cocoa production. Times have changed and sustainability has become the top priority in the cocoa industry, as seem through the Lindt & Sprüngli farming program.

As stated before, Ghirardelli is apart of the sustainable farming program run by Lindt & Sprüngli. Since 2020, Ghirardelli has been sourcing 100% of their cocoa beans through the Farming Program. Their aim is to source 100% of cocoa products which includes beans, butter, powder, and chocolate mass through the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program or other sustainability programs by 2025. In the reporting year 2023, Ghirardelli sourced a total of 68.2% of cocoa bean equivalents through our Farming Program. Ghirardelli aims to achieve near- and long-term science-based targets and reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across the value chain by 2050.