Jelly Belly are among the companies signed up to the scheme. © Oishi/Photozou
A new partnership between the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) and National Confectioners Association (NCA) will see six US confectionery companies – including Jelly Belly Candy Company and Mike and Ike owner Just Born Quality Confections – commit to zero advertising to children under 12.
The new self-regulatory initiative is modelled on the earlier Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI), which including pledges from 18 of the world’s largest food and drinks companies including General Mills, Coca-Cola and McDonald’s. It also saw several confectionery companies – such as Mondelēz, Mars and Hershey – sign up to the scheme.
The six confectionery manufacturers have agreed not to engage in advertising for their products that is primarily aimed at children under the age of 12, or to advertise their products in American schools to children from pre-kindergarten through to sixth grade.
Besides Jelly Belly and Just Born, four other companies have signed up the Children’s Confection Advertising Initiative (CCAI): Ferrara Candy, Ghirardelli Chocolate, The Promotion in Motion Companies, and RM Palmer.
Maureen Enright, director of CCAI and deputy director of CFBAI, said: “CCAI follows the same principles as CFBAI, but is designed for small-to-medium size confectionery companies and has fewer administrative requirements than CFBAI. All CCAI participants are making the same commitment – to not engage in child-directed advertising. CFBAI will independently monitor compliance and will publish periodic compliance reports, as it does for CFBAI.”
Council of Better Business Bureaus CEO Mary E Power added: “Better Business Bureau has always felt that smaller companies can be just as much a part of the self-regulatory success story as major corporations. This latest initiative is yet another example of how responsible companies can join together to efficiently regulate themselves. We are delighted to build on CFBAI’s success, we appreciate NCA’s partnership on this effort, and we look forward to working with them to grow the programme.”
And NCA president and CEO John H Downs Jr concluded: “America’s leading confectionery companies are committed to marketing their products responsibly, and participating in this programme further solidifies that commitment.
“The candy companies that are members of CCAI and CFBAI make the majority of the candy on store shelves in the US.”
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024