cocoa
Maria Castro 
cocoa.docxhttps://www.raconteur.net/manufacturing/ensuring-your-supply-chain-is-sustainable-and-ethical
Use these sources above please and cite references and any other references you use. Thank you!
Please answer all questions below. Some of the questions below have answers as an example, please don’t use same wording. Thank you
Determine whether Mars should consider changing cocoa suppliers to countries outside of the Cocoa Cartel. You need to clearly make a recommendation either Yes or No. Justify your answer
Mars should consider changing cocoa suppliers to countries outside of the Cocoa Cartel. Doing so will also enable a decreased and continuous variable cost for the future, resulting in long-term savings for the company. The Cartel is profitable in the short term because there is no one-time fixed cost. However, the fixed price can be altered or paid off in a long time. Once paid off, Mars can use the benefits of the decreased variable costs for decades. If Mars chooses to join competing countries, this will be an advantage because they will start to notice more pushes toward saving money, innovation, and efficiency increases. Mars should consider cocoa suppliers outside the Cocoa Cartel because the company can lower its prices, improve its brand, and increase sales. Not only that, but Cartels can act as a monopoly, which is not beneficial to Mars, Inc.
Will historical trends affecting the price of Cocoa influence your recommendation to Mars?
Will historical trends affecting the price of Cocoa influence your recommendation to Mars?
What other non-financial factors should Mars consider in this case?
When dealing with a Cartel, there could be some potential substantial, non-financial consequences. The Cartel does not treat workers well, the branding image is negative, there is an openness to possible boycott, and there is always a risk with the competing output. Another non-financial factor pointing Mars, Inc. towards working with non-Cartel cocoa suppliers is that competing-market suppliers can be noticed to examine its rival, the “Cocoa Cartel.” The Cartel would also group members to drive the competition out by using a low fixed pricing model. As the business and market power of the Cartel increases, it potentially uses this power to drive out the competition (OECD.org, 2002).
Consider other non-ethical and non-financial factors.
Being ethical is essential, especially for brand and image growth. It has been reported that the Cartel practices hazardous agriculture. This type of agriculture is called slash-and-burn (Fattibene, 2020). Slash-and-burn leaves trails of ash, giving off a large amount of carbon dioxide within the area. It can be incredibly harmful to future generations. Changing the supplier to a non-Cartel would be the most ethical choice. Cartels have mistreated their workers, and the Cartel has a history of violating both child and adult labor laws. In Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana, the U.S. Department of Labor reported over two million children being employed in horrible and non-healthy work conditions for the primary purpose of cocoa farming (Forde, 2019). In Cote d'Ivoire, a Cartel cocoa country, it has been reported that children as young as nine are sold to work on cocoa plantations (LaborRights.org, n.d.). The children have spent their lives harvesting cocoa but have never even eaten a chocolate bar (LaborRights.org, n.d.). Child labor is hugely unethical, and so is harmful agriculture. These are two good reasons to drop the Cartel as a supplier.
