Chocolate giant lobbied U.S. and EU officials over deforestation laws, says report

Food conglomerate Mondelēz International, the owner of chocolate brands Cadbury, Milka, Toblerone and Oreo, has allegedly engaged in an extensive lobbying campaign to weaken and delay enforcement of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), according to new analysis by environmental watchdog Global Witness. Under the EUDR, companies selling to the EU must show their forest products, including cocoa, were not produced on land deforested after Dec. 31, 2020. The law was originally slated to come into force in 2024 but will now be implemented from Dec. 31, 2026. The investigation by NGO Global Witness details how Mondelēz CEO Dirk Van De Put met with Andrew Puzder, the U.S. ambassador to the EU, in Brussels in June — just months before a European Parliament and Council vote that went into force on September 18 on proposed regulatory simplifications. Puzder is a close ally of Trump; both are openly critical of the EUDR, according to the NGO. Global Witness reports that Mondelēz met Puzder in the headquarters of the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU. Mondelēz previously supported due diligence rules and no delay of the EUDR as part of the EU Cocoa Coalition alongside chocolate giants, including Mars, Ferrero and Nestle. However, the company broke ranks with peers in July 2025 to call for a 12-month delay. The NGO says this call came a month after a senior Mondelēz representative became a board member of the Chamber. The reporting further details that Mondelēz extensively lobbied Brussels powerbrokers and national governments in France, Germany, Ireland and Luxembourg in the lead-up to a second delay proposal by the European Commission later that year. Since 2023, Mondelēz has spent between 1.2-1.5 million euros ($1.4-$1.7 million) on EU lobbying, the NGO says, adding that it remains unclear what topics the money was spent on. Mondelēz is the only major chocolate manufacturer analyzed by Global Witness that fails to disclose what percentage of its cocoa supply chain is deforestation-free, the NGO highlights. Its report says Mondelēz remains exposed to cocoa-driven deforestation in West Africa, including Liberia, by continuing to source cocoa through an untraceable system. Mondelēz “has sought to sabotage the regulation by launching an aggressive campaign to oppose its implementation,” Bakary Traoré, executive director of Ivorian NGO Initiatives for Community Development and Forest Conservation (IDEF), told Global Witness. Cocoa expert Antonie Fountain, who leads the NGO coalition VOICE Network and is a member of the EU Sustainable Supply Chains Coalition in Brussels, told Global Witness the reason Mondelēz is still pushing back against the EUDR is that “[they] haven’t done enough to get ready for the law.” Responding to Global Witness, a Mondelēz spokesperson said “[they] fully support the objectives of the EU Deforestation Regulation and remain committed to deforestation-free supply chains and responsible sourcing across our operations and value chain.” They added the company did lobby and that it engages with policymakers to ensure the regulation “works effectively in practice”. Banner image: Mondelēz factory in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland. Image courtesy of WrS.tm.pl via Wikimedia Commons (Free to use). Credits Topics