Barry Callebaut makes unprecedented move of releasing its direct cocoa sourcing map

This map highlights the location​ of cooperatives and buying stations from which the Group is directly sourcing its cocoa.

By publicly sharing the information, it said it is contributing to transparency and traceability in the cocoa supply chain. ‘This data also demonstrates the evolution of our data collection capabilities and our confidence in the robustness of our data’.

By disclosing our direct cocoa suppliers in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Cameroon, we are driving a transparent and traceable cocoa supply chain -- Pablo Perversi, the Group’s chief innovation, sustainability & quality officer and global head of gourmet.

The map includes geographical data on cooperatives and districts in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Cameroon. Each pin-point on the map details the geographical location, cooperative or district name, certification scheme and the number of farmers it is sourcing from in its supply chain.

Steven Retzlaff, president Global Cocoa, said: “We committed under Forever Chocolate​ to make sustainable chocolate the norm by 2025. One important pillar of this plan is the elimination of deforestation from our supply chain​.”

He said mapping is a critical step to ending deforestation, because it shows if the farm is located in a protected forest area and allows the Group to exclude cocoa purchases from farms fully or partly located within a protected area boundary.

Public scrutiny

The opening up of the geographical location of the cooperatives and districts that Barry Callebaut is directly sourcing from to public scrutiny is proof of the “robustness​” of its approach to exclude cocoa grown in protected forest areas from its direct supply chain, it claimed.

By combining the geographical mapping of cocoa farms with farmer census interviews will not only give Barry Callebaut key insights into the geographical location of the farm, but also the farm size, crops grown, as well as the household composition and income of thousands of cocoa farmers and their farms.

By the end of 2018/19, it mapped the geographical location as well as the size of 295,383 cocoa farms, which are captured in its bespoke Katchilè database. The Group also conducted census interviews with 229,142 cocoa farmers, capturing socio-economic and household data.

Farm Business Plans

This unprecedented collection of farmer data has also allowed it to individualize its Farm Business Plans, which are designed to enable farmers to develop their cocoa farms into rehabilitated, diverse and professionally run farms over a period of several years, it said.

“By disclosing our direct cocoa suppliers in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Cameroon, we are driving a transparent and traceable cocoa supply chain​,” said Pablo Perversi, the Group’s chief innovation, sustainability & quality officer and global head of gourmet.

Barry Callebaut has also pledged to continue to update the map as part of its continuing progression towards a more transparent supply chain.