Hershey Announces Clinton Global Initiative Commitment to Build a Sustainable Supply Chain to Support Basic Nutrition for Children in Ghana
Hershey commits to 100% local sourcing of peanuts for Vivi school
nutrition program by 2018
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) announced a new Clinton Global
Initiative (CGI) Commitment to Action to train 7,500 farmers in Ghana on
improved agronomic practices, empowering them to supply local commercial
markets with safe and high-quality peanuts to produce Vivi, a vitamin
and mineral-fortified nutritional supplement distributed to school
children in Ghana. Hershey commits to 100% local sourcing of peanuts for
its production of Vivi by 2018.
Providing children with the basic nutrition they need to learn, grow and
be successful in school remains a challenge across West Africa. Hershey
produces and distributes these much-needed nutritional supplements at no
cost to the children through a partnership with the Ghana School Feeding
Programme and nonprofit Project Peanut Butter.
“Ghana has a long history of producing peanuts, known locally as
groundnuts. Yet rural farmers lack access to commercial buyers due to
quality and food safety issues, so they struggle with low incomes,” said
Mike Wege, Chief Administrative Officer at The Hershey Company. “By
sharing our world class expertise in peanut production, roasting and
processing, we hope to increase the quality and safety of Ghana’s peanut
supply, improve the livelihoods of its farmers and promote a sustainable
supply chain for basic nutrition.”
In addition to capacity building and training for local peanut farmers,
Hershey will provide financial and in-kind resources to rehabilitate a
local peanut roasting facility and implement training on the appropriate
roasting techniques. Hershey will establish a premium price for
purchasing the peanuts as an ingredient for the Vivi nutritional
supplement.
The commitment to source 100% local peanuts for Vivi is part of
Hershey’s global social purpose to provide children with the basic
nutrition they need to learn and grow. It builds on Hershey’s existing Energize
Learning program, which will help feed 50,000 Ghanaian children by
2016 by distributing Vivi during the school day.
For more information, visit NourishingMinds.com.
About the Clinton Global Initiative
Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global
Initiative (CGI), an initiative of the Clinton Foundation, convenes
global leaders to create and implement solutions to the world’s most
pressing challenges. CGI Annual Meetings have brought together 190
sitting and former heads of state, more than 20 Nobel Prize laureates,
and hundreds of leading CEOs, heads of foundations and NGOs, major
philanthropists, and members of the media. To date, members of the CGI
community have made more than 3,200 Commitments to Action, which have
improved the lives of over 430 million people in more than 180 countries.
In addition to the Annual Meeting, CGI convenes CGI America, a meeting
focused on collaborative solutions to economic recovery in the United
States; and CGI University (CGI U), which brings together undergraduate
and graduate students to address pressing challenges in their community
or around the world. This year, CGI also convened CGI Middle East &
Africa, which brought together leaders across sectors to take action on
pressing social, economic, and environmental challenges.
For more information, visit clintonglobalinitiative.org and follow us on
Twitter @ClintonGlobal and Facebook at
facebook.com/clintonglobalinitiative.
About The Hershey Company
The Hershey Company, headquartered in Hershey, Pa., is a global
confectionery leader known for bringing goodness to the world through
its chocolate, sweets, mints and other great-tasting snacks. Hershey has
approximately 22,000 employees around the world who work every day to
deliver delicious, quality products. The company has more than 80 brands
around the world that drive more than $7.4 billion in annual revenues,
including such iconic brand names as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Hershey’s
Kisses, Jolly Rancher, Ice Breakers and Brookside. Building
on its core business, Hershey is expanding its portfolio to include a
broader range of delicious snacks. The company remains focused on
growing its presence in key international markets while continuing to
extend its competitive advantage in North America.
At Hershey, goodness has always been about more than delicious products.
For more than 120 years, Hershey has been committed to operating fairly,
ethically and sustainably. Hershey founder, Milton Hershey, created the
Milton Hershey School in 1909 and since then the company has focused on
giving underserved children the skills and support they need to be
successful. Today, the company continues this social purpose through
‘Nourishing Minds,’ a global initiative that provides basic nutrition to
help children learn and grow. From neighborhoods across the United
States to the streets of Shanghai and Mumbai and villages of West
Africa, our goal is to nourish one million minds by 2020.
To learn more –
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Contacts
The Hershey Company
MEDIA CONTACT:
Jeff
Beckman, 717-534-8090
