About the Case

Lindt claims to offer consumers “indulgence rooted in responsibility”

In its public-facing materials, including representations on packaging and in reports, plans, internal codes, initiatives, and advertisements, Lindt paints an image of a company committed to respecting human rights, improving farmer livelihoods, and reducing child labor risks.

However, details in the complaint reveal the opposite picture,

a supply chain rife with children performing the worst forms of child labor. According to the complaint, instead of attending school, children in Lindt’s supply chain are harvesting cocoa with machetes and facing toxic agrochemical exposure

The allegations the program is facing

Lindt represents that the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program reduces child labor risk by implementing “Child Labor Monitoring and Remediation Systems” across its participating farms.

Now, the program faces allegations of providing

• no meaningful monitoring or remediation for child laborers as advertised and

• wholly fabricating internal rehabilitation lists to meet internal quotas

  Furthermore, Whistleblower-backed claims of systematic underpayment schemes reveal the widespread use of

• rigged scales to under-weigh cocoa yields, thereby fraudulently undercutting farmers’ wages, trapping cocoa farmers in poverty, and driving reliance on child labor to meet production demands and sustain their survival

Yet across the board, Lindt continues to market its products to D.C. consumers as responsibly and sustainably sourced

While Lindt stands to profit by misleading to consumers to believe it is committed to and making progress in reducing child labor risks in its cocoa supply chain, impoverished child laborers and farmers on the ground do not reap such benefits.

Why it Matters

More and more, consumers choose products and brands based on ethics and rely on product packaging, marketing, advertising, and company reports to make informed decisions about what to purchase. Such alleged deception undermines consumer rights, masks harm to communities, and distorts the ethical cocoa market.

Legal Basis of the Complaint

International Rights Advocates brings this suit under the District of Columbia Consumer Protection Procedures Act, D.C. Code §§ 28-3901–3913, against Lindt & Sprüngli (USA) Inc. and Lindt & Sprüngli (North America) Inc., based on Lindt’s deceptive advertisement regarding the use of child labor and the implementation of sustainability programs in its cocoa supply chain.

 This action does not seek damages. Instead, International Rights Advocates seeks to end the unlawful conduct directed at D.C. consumers, with available remedies including an injunction to stop Lindt from engaging in unlawful trade practices and reasonable attorney’s fees incurred by bringing forth this action.