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How does Starling support The ...
How does Starling support The Hershey Company in achieving its deforestation and conversion-free commitment?
As part of its commitment to responsible sourcing, The Hershey Company is strengthening its approach to tackling deforestation and conversion across complex global supply chains. Through their partnership with Airbus and Earthworm Foundation, Hershey is improving visibility over its sourcing regions and accelerating action where it matters most.
Challenge
Hershey’s approach to responsible sourcing
The Hershey Company is a global leader in the food industry and the largest producer of quality chocolate and snacks in North America. In recent years, the company has made ambitious commitments to responsible sourcing, with a strong focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and achieving deforestation and conversion-free supply chains.
As part of these commitments, Hershey aims to monitor and mitigate deforestation risks and land conversion in line with industry best practices. This requires improving traceability and gaining better visibility into complex, multi-tier supply chains. It also involves supplier engagement work to mitigate potential risk of deforestation, leveraging advanced tools such as satellite monitoring and reporting on relevant metrics.
To address this complexity, Hershey launched a multi-commodity action plan and partnered with Starling to detect deforestation risks across key raw materials such as cocoa, palm oil, as well as pulp and paper. Their approach aligns with leading frameworks, including the Consumer Goods Forum’s Forest Positive Coalition methodology and AFi guidance.
Solution
Assessing, monitoring and mitigating deforestation and conversion risks
To support its deforestation and conversion-free approach, Hershey relies on the Starling platform and the combined expertise of Airbus and Earthworm Foundation. This collaboration enables robust forest monitoring through satellite imagery, complemented by on-the-ground verification and supplier engagement done by Earthworm.
- Supply chain mapping and traceability: Hershey works closely with Earthworm Foundation to clean, aggregate and improve supply chain data reported by multiple tiers of suppliers.
- Origin risk assessment: traceability data is combined with origin risk analysis using Earthworm’s Country Prioritisation Matrices. This helps classify sourcing regions by deforestation risk (high, medium or low) and determine appropriate monitoring and engagement strategies. Where more granular data is available, assessments can be refined at regional or local levels.
- Remote sensing monitoring: embedding this combined data directly into the platform, Starling monitors supply chains for deforestation and land conversion. Satellite analysis includes both historical trends and near real-time alerts, ensuring timely detection of land-use changes. The most precise insights are obtained when traceability reaches plantation or farm level.
- Driving action and engagement: thanks to Starling, Hershey can assess current risks, anticipate future exposure and prioritise mitigation efforts.
Benefits
Identify deforestation risks and drivers
Through a set of tools measuring land-cover changes in specific areas, Hershey can access key information to identify plantations and forests and better understand the drivers of deforestation nearby their supply chain.
Verify commitments and take action
Data collected via Starling is used by Hershey to focus resources and time in at-risk areas, where they matter most. Starling automatically detects possible deforestation to allow rapid intervention where needed.
Engage relevant Stakeholders and suppliers
By integrating its supply chain information (farms, suppliers, sourcing boundaries) to the Starling platform, Hershey can share progress with relevant stakeholders and engage suppliers if risk of deforestation has been flagged.
Measure impacts
If a Starling deforestation alert is identified, Earthworm Foundation provides guidance for action management and follow-up to support Hershey implement measures to mitigate impact on their supply chain and communicate efficiently to relevant actors.
Customer testimonial
“Strengthening traceability and monitoring across complex supply chains is foundational to advancing our deforestation and conversion‑free commitments. Tools like Starling help us better understand risk across sourcing regions and support more informed decision‑making on where to focus action. Combined with supplier engagement and on‑the‑ground partnerships, satellite monitoring enables us to move beyond detection toward prioritisation, response and continuous improvement, recognising that DCF is not a one-time compliance exercise but an ongoing progress.”
Molly Haragan
Senior Manager, Responsible Sourcing, The Hershey Company
Organisations involved
Earthworm Foundation is a non-profit organisation motivated by the desire to positively impact the relationship between people and nature through transforming supply chains. With much of their staff operating directly on the ground, Earthworm works jointly with member companies and partners to transform raw material value chains that drive positive economic, environmental and social impacts.
The Hershey Company is a leading global food manufacturer known for its iconic chocolate brands and growing portfolio of snacks. Headquartered in the United States, the company is committed to conducting business responsibly by advancing responsible sourcing, supporting farming communities and protecting natural ecosystems across its supply chains.
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