Davos: Campaigners challenge Nestle on Ivory Coast cocoa
Global activists challenged major western chocolate makers, including Swiss food giant Nestle, not to buy cocoa from Ivory Coast as long as exports are controlled by Laurent Gbagbo.
January 28, 2011 / 10:02 IST
Global activists challenged major western chocolate makers, including Swiss food giant Nestle, not to buy cocoa from Ivory Coast as long as exports are controlled by Laurent Gbagbo.
The incumbent lost a presidential election in December, according to UN-certified results, but has refused to hand over power to his rival, former prime minister Alessane Ouattara, who has banned cocoa exports to raise financial pressure on Gbagbo to yield office.Avaaz, a global campaigning organisation, ran a front-page advert in the Financial Times calling on Nestle and other leading chocolate companies operating in Ivory Coast to help prevent civil war by refusing to purchase cocoa from what it called "Laurent Gbagbo's illegal regime".The international community has recognised Ouattara's victory but Gbagbo says he is the legitimate president because a constitutional council packed with his supporters invalidated ballots from northern regions loyal to Ouattara and declared the incumbent the winner."Conflict chocolate is bankrolling bloodshed. Chocolate lovers around the world want the industry to take a stand and deal only with the democratically elected government of Ivory Coast," Avaaz executive director Rick Patel said in a statement.He said six companies had given such assurances so far.However, Nestle chairman Peter Brabeck told Reuters his company did not export cocoa from Ivory Coast and criticised the boycott campaign as unfair to African farmers."Sometimes these boycotts are not necessarily helping the cause they want to help by pushing hundreds of thousands of small farmers into even greater poverty," Brabeck said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos."I don't think that's the right thing to do." Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
