Sustainabilty

Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa reports progress in its sustainable cocoa value chain

By Anthony Myers

- Last updated on GMT

SWISSCO  reports 'progress on the common journey towards a sustainable cocoa value chain'. Pic: SWISSCO
SWISSCO reports 'progress on the common journey towards a sustainable cocoa value chain'. Pic: SWISSCO

Related tags Cocoa

The Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa (SWISSCO) has reported good progress in promoting sustainability in the Swiss cocoa value chain as it deepens its engagement in projects and international cooperation.

The coalition brings together 68 Swiss-based companies and organisations committed to a sustainable cocoa value chain.

According to its 2020 Annual Report, SWISSCO reports a net increase of 19% in the proportion of sustainable cocoa bean equivalents imported into Switzerland from 2019 to 2020.

Today, more than 74% of these imports are now sustainably sourced, either by a certified sustainability standard or by an independently verified company sustainability programme, the report states.

SWISSCO aims to increase this rate to 80% by 2025. While 96% of imported cocoa beans already come from sustainable production, the figure for cocoa butter is now 59%. In particular, the strong increase in sustainable cocoa butter by 23 percentage points explains the strong increase that has been recorded in sustainable cocoa sourcing over the past year

Highlights of SWISSCO’s Annual Report 2020 include:

• Imports of sustainably produced cocoa into Switzerland increased by 19 percentage points to 74%, an important step towards achieving the interim target of 80% by 2025. Imports of sustainable cocoa butter recorded a strong increase from 36% to 59%. The share of sustainably imported cocoa beans also increased slightly to 96% (up 6 percentage points).

• Value chain projects in producing countries foster the impacts of sustainable sourcing through certification and verification. In cooperation with the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and its members, the Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa (SWISSCO) is currently implementing 14 projects in Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Madagascar, Togo, Peru, Colombia and Costa Rica. The innovative pilot projects are helping to improve the production and living conditions of over 90,000 cocoa farmers, 30% of whom are women.

• The persisting challenges of poverty, child labour, climate change and biodiversity require a deepening and dissemination of the innovative pilot approaches through strong partnerships. The platform is therefore strengthening its cooperation with European partner initiatives and intensifies its dialogue with local authorities in the future.

"We are very pleased that we have made important progress in sourcing of sustainable cocoa despite the Covid-19 pandemic. This shows us that despite the economic challenges posed by the pandemic, the Swiss industry players are strengthening and further developing their sustainability goals​,” said Filippo Veglio, who became the new president of the Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa at the virtual general assembly in October 2020.

Related news