Chocolate manufacturer Libeert from Comines-Warneton ensures a better future for 50 children in Peru
Libeert has been producing chocolate creations that are 100% Belgian for about 100 years now, using a tried-and-tested family recipe and always with an eye towards sustainability. It is also focusing on is a pilot project that aims to give 50 children of Peruvian cocoa farmers a future.
About half of the current generation of cocoa farmers in Peru is in a weak financial position as a result of poor education. Unfortunately, the next generation is also likely to suffer the negative effects of this as well. Reason enough for Libeert, which is originally from West Flanders, to change that as a matter of urgency. On the one hand, the company is supporting the farmers by purchasing only fully sustainable cocoa beans from them; on the other hand, it has set up a pilot project, in which employees of the family-run chocolate company are sponsoring a total of 50 of the farmers' children by donating money for things such as quality education, schoolbooks and school uniforms. The contact between Libeert and the farmers' children takes place via a confidential adviser at the school. The company's employees also send the children letters to provide them with support and encouragement while brushing up their language skills. Recently, a delegation of employees even travelled to Peru to meet the children they are sponsoring. Personal connections like that not only strengthen the relationship between each child and their sponsor in Belgium, but is an emotional and enjoyable experience at the same time.
Libeert wants to encourage other companies to set up the same type of educational initiative somewhere in the world. Right now, the company is putting together a type of policy plan to help them do just that. In that regard, the chocolate manufacturer is already setting a shining example.