• Donate Now
  • logo
  • logo
  • Login
  • Reports
    • Agribusiness
    • Environment
    • Government
    • Labor
    • Health
    • Climate Change and Agribusiness
  • Resources
    • Datasets and Documents
    • Reporter Guides
    • Training
  • Steal Our Stories
  • Where Our Stories Appear
  • Events
  • News & Updates In Your Inbox? Sign Up Here.
  • Donate Now
  • More
    • About The Center
    • Board of Directors
    • User Agreement and Privacy Policy
    • Donor Transparency
    • Editorial Independence Policy
    • Contact Us
Archer Daniels Midland

ADM sells cocoa business as lawsuit on child slavery continues

By Midwest Center Staff | June 15, 2015
More
  • More on Archer Daniels Midland
  • Subscribe to Archer Daniels Midland

Photo by Flickr user Tom Hart

Cocoa beans are scattered on a flat surface. ADM recently sold its cocoa business to Olam International Ltd for $1.3 billion.

Archer Daniels Midland recently announced it sold its cocoa business for $1.3 billion on June 11 to Olam International Ltd, an agribusiness company with headquarters in Singapore.

Archer Daniels Midland is one of the world’s largest processors of cocoa liquor, powder and butter with eight factories from Ivory Coast to Singapore, Reuters reports.

This comes as a decade-0ld lawsuit against the agribusiness giant continues.

Archer Daniels Midland is one of three U.S. agribusiness companies facing a lawsuit regarding child labor at cocoa plantations.

Plantation workers filed the case against Archer Daniels Midland, Cargill and Nestlé in 2005 when the workers were 12 to 14 years old. The case is now headed for a final ruling in the Supreme Court.

The Epoch Times reported on June 2:

In 2005, three Malian nationals who were forced into working on cocoa plantations in the Ivory Coast filed a class-action lawsuit in a federal court in California. They claimed that the three corporations—through purchasing cocoa harvested by child laborers—”aided and abetted” slavery, child labor, and torture.

According to court documents, the three plaintiffs—identified only as John Does I, II, and III—worked without pay for up to 14 hours a day, 6 days a week. They were only fed scraps of food, and were frequently beaten and whipped by the plantation overseers.

Continue Reading

The case was originally dismissed in 2010. The ruling stated corporations could not be sued under the Alien Tort Statute, a law where non-U.S. citizens can file lawsuits in U.S. courts for violating international law.

In September 2014, the federal appeals court reversed the dismissal and found the plaintiffs had cause to argue the case because slavery is illegal. Judges ruled defendants “acted with purpose to support child slavery.”

In a 2013 interview with Bloomberg, a Cargill spokesperson said, “Cargill is concerned about the safety and well-being of children who may be involved in dangerous or forced work on cocoa farms, and we are committed to working towards a cocoa supply chain where no children are subject to these conditions.”

Your tax-deductible donation is DOUBLED when you give today!

  • Investigate Midwest
  • About The Center
  • Contact Us
  • Support the Midwest Center

About Investigate Midwest

The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting is a nonprofit, online newsroom offering investigative and enterprise coverage of agribusiness,big ag and related issues through data analysis, visualizations, in-depth reports and interactive web tools. Learn More »

Search This Site

Browse Archives

© Copyright 2019, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting

Investigate Midwest is a member of the Institute for Nonprofit News

Built with the Largo WordPress Theme from the Institute for Nonprofit News.

Back to top ↑

The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Learn More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Will you give to the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting today?

Right now, your donation could do so much more. Your donations will be matched up to $1,000 for a total of $20,000 from NewsMatch and also matched up to a total of $10,000 from REI. Your gifts totaling $20,000 could bring us $50,000. This could be transformative for our newsroom and what we do. And, don’t forget, if you start a new monthly donation, NewsMatch will match your year’s total, not just the first monthly donation.

 This is an amazing opportunity to make your donation go so much further!

Please make a tax-deductible donation today! Click here!