B&B member Company Mars has announced that it has made a commitment to purchase 100,000 tonnes of UTZ certified cocoa annually by 2020.

This commitment comes in addition to a commitment made in April to purchase 100,000 tonnes of cocoa from Rainforest Alliance certified cocoa farms.

UTZ Certification requires several initiatives to be undertaken by both the producer and the certificate holder to ensure that farm safety, fertiliser use, biodiversity, environmental risks, and product quality are all managed appropriately.

Additional measures, such as encouraging school attendance when there are indicators of non-attendance, are also required.  There are also several other non-mandatory areas, such as providing first aid training or literacy improvement initiatives, which companies are also encouraged to undertake.  A certification document is available here.

A 2007 case study by researchers at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Governance found that an ECOM-ETZ project successfully reduced harmful effects on the environment, raised incomes and improved skills (the full study is available here).

The purchase commitment from Mars is an important market signal, indicating demand for UTZ Certified cocoa and encouraging further certification.