CHICAGO — Blommer Chocolate said more than 40,000 cocoa farmers are involved in the company’s sustainability program, which provides tools and training to increase yields and income while practicing sound environmental stewardship. Blommer is involved in several sustainability programs in Ivory Coast, Indonesia and Ecuador, and has sourced more than 100,000 tonnes of cocoa, including over 10,000 tonnes of Rain Forest Alliance certified cocoa so far this year.

Blommer said its programs educate farmers to become stronger, more educated sellers to provide a better life for their families and to ensure the long-term sustainability of the cocoa industry.

Details of the company’s three-pronged sustainability program that focus on “People, Planet and Profitability for farmers” may be found on the new company web site (www.blommer.com), including a video on sustainability programs. Programs include the World Cocoa Foundation, Cocoa Livelihoods Program with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Côte d’Ivoire Alliance of Farmers, Olam International and Blommer Chocolate (CIFOB), and the Sulawesi Alliance of Farmers, Olam and Blommer Chocolate (SAFOB).

“Blommer has a long history of supporting cocoa community sustainability, beginning in the 1950s when our founder, Henry Blommer, began what is now the World Cocoa Foundation,” said Peter Blommer, president of Blommer Chocolate. “We are proud of the impact we’ve been able to make on so many farmers’ lives by training them on improving crop yield and quality and sustainability of the land for future cocoa crops.”