Hazelnuts used by the company Ferrero to produce Nutella and Ferrero-Rocher may have been picked by children, a crowdsourced investigation by WeMove Europe has found. Ferrero buys around a third of all of hazelnuts in Turkey, a country which provides 70 percent of the world’s hazelnuts supplies [1].
In response, WeMove Europe, a citizen’s campaigning group, has launched an online petition [2] to tell Ferrero – the famous producer of the Nutella spread and of Ferrero-Rocher – to end child labour and support a fair price for hazelnuts in Turkey so that workers get a living wage income.
Ferrero told the Guardian that they acknowledge the problem of child labour in Turkey’s agricultural sector and they are “determined to prevent and eliminate child labour all along our supply chains.”
“Christmas shoppers don’t want to be caught up in child labor problems,” said Giulio Carini, a senior campaigner from WeMove Europe. “They want farmers to get a fair price for their hazelnuts, workers to get a living wage income, and children to be happy, not be used for cheap labour.”
, and captured video footage that shows children as young as 11 working on hazelnut farms across Turkey.
Two hazelnut farmers in Turkey in the video say they hire children and claim their hazelnuts end up with Ferrero with one adding: “99 percent of the hazelnuts in the area
are bought by Ferrero” and “as far as I can see “everybody has child labour.” A merchant that buys from one of the farmers confirmed in writing that they sell to Ferrero.
The hazelnuts in Nutella, Kinder Bueno, and Ferrero-Rocher helped make the billionaire Giovanni Ferrero the richest man in Italy as of March 2019, but for workers and children in Turkey who have to pick them, the crop represents misery. [3] An 11 year old girl in the video Hazelnuts used by the company Ferrero to produce Nutella and Ferrero-Rocher may have been
picked by children, a crowdsourced investigation by WeMove Europe has found. Ferrero buys around a third of all of hazelnuts in Turkey, a country which provides 70 percent of the world’s hazelnut supply. [1]
The Italian confectionary company is struggling to shake off these accusations that the
hazelnuts in its Ferrero Rocher chocolates and Nutella chocolate spread, expected to be
consumed in their millions this Christmas, are tainted with child labour.
As part of the investigation conducted this summer, the Center for Child Rights in Turkey working in collaboration with WeMove Europe travelled to more than 10 cities in the Black Sea Region says: ‘’We walk to the field at 6.30am and […] we work until 6pm. We have two breaks. This is the second time I have come to work here.’’
“The root of the problem is the price Ferrero pays for its hazelnuts. Our campaign asks Ferrero to support a fair price for hazelnuts in Turkey, ensure workers get a living wage income and eliminate child labour throughout its supply chain. While children and their parents earn between 6 to 15 euros a day, Ferrero’s executive director, Giovanni Ferrero has a net worth of close to 20 billion euros”, says Giulio Carini, senior campaigner at WeMove Europe.
Farmers interviewed said that Ferrero could put an end to all forms of child labour in Ferrero’s supply chain if they really want, as long as they pay a fair price for hazelnuts.
Ends/ Contact
Notes to editors
WeMove Europe is a citizens’ movement, with over 900,000 members, campaigning for a better Europe; for a European Union committed to social and economic justice, environmental
[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-49741675
[2] Link to WeMove Europe’s petition: https://act.wemove.eu/campaigns/ferrero-child-labour-uk
[3] http://www.ansa.it/english/news/business/2019/03/05/giovanni-ferrero-richest-man-in-italy_b1d2 4d05-1d6d-4d12-b669-8fbc46fc7bd5.html; https://www.forbes.com/profile/giovanni-ferrero/
For further information please contact Giulio Carini, Senior Campaigner at WeMove Europe on
+39 3485333846 or at giulio@wemove.eu. Backup contact for arranging interviews: Andrew
Davies on +31 6 22271598
Link to Guardian article:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/dec/20/are-ferrero-rocher-chocolates-tainted-by-child-labour
sustainability and citizen-led democracy. We are people from all walks of life, who call Europe our home – whether we were born in Europe or elsewhere.
