Cargill Incorporated, an American privately held global corporation specializing in cocoa and chocolate, was the first to use Coconut Certified Rainforest Alliance Cocoa Butter as an ingredient in its coatings and fillers.

The company said that this initiative was a response to growing consumer demand for environmentally friendly ingredients for confectionery and bakery products, as well as ice cream.

Inge Demeyer, Managing Director of Chocolate at Cargill Europe, explained what was behind the event: “Consumer demand for environmentally friendly ingredients is well founded. Cargill's cocoa and chocolate business is already a leader in implementing Cocoa Sustainability Standards, supporting farmers and their communities through training and expertise with Cargill Cocoa Promise - so moving to offering sustainable source coconut coatings and fillers was a good next step. ”

Demeyer continued: “We use coconut oil as a substitute in modern coatings and fillers in ice cream, bakery and confectionery products, providing the same excellent taste and quality as before, adding value to our customers' recipes.”

“Ethical brand positioning is becoming an increasingly important driving force for our customers' products and brand improvement. By providing our customers with supply chain integrity and certified ingredients through products such as our coatings and fillings, including coconut oil obtained from certified Rainforest Alliance farms on a mass balance basis, they can position their products to appeal to a growing number of ethically aware consumers, ”concluded the managing director.