Efforts are under way to bring cocoa farmers together under a single voice, but divisions still exist that hinder the chocolate industry’s push to a sustainable cocoa sector, writes ConfectioneryNews editor Oliver Nieburg.
Barry Callebaut expects farmer income to grow 23% within two years under a $9m partnership with IFC and IDH to support up to 103,000 smallholder cocoa farmers in Côte d’Ivoire by 2020.
Chocolate companies outside the top six need to up their games on sustainable cocoa to help bring millions of cocoa farmers in West Africa out of poverty and secure the crop’s future, says Cadbury’s former head of cocoa sourcing.
The International CoCoa Farmers Organization has called for greater farmer involvement in cocoa sustainability efforts and plans to host a conference alongside the International Cocoa Organization’s top event after its board membership request was rejected.
‘You can’t say you’re sustainable when you’re not reaching the majority,’ says cocoa farmer body
The International Cocoa Farmers Organization has called on the chocolate industry to directly source from cocoa farmers and support efforts to reach 90% of farmers it says have been neglected in cocoa sustainability plans.
Chocolate companies and certification organizations can get better productivity gains by improving underperforming cocoa farmers rather than rewarding top producers, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
By Han De Groot, executive director at UTZ Certified,
Chocolate could become a small and expensive niche product unless we all do more to help cocoa farmers escape poverty, writes UTZ Certified executive director Han De Groot.
The chocolate industry is behind in tackling some cocoa supply issues and must work more closely to avert shortages, according to Mars’ head of sustainability.
Small and medium sized US confectioners are coming under increasing threat from foreign firms that are able to secure sugar supplies at less than half the going rate in the US, according to the Kimmie Candy Company.
Barry Callebaut’s joint venture cocoa partner Biopartenaire is now Rainforest Alliance Certified - a move that forms part of a wider puzzle of efforts towards sustainability, it said.
Chocolate companies are uniting with the World Cocoa Foundation
(WCF) to encourage sustainable cocoa production in West Africa and
therefore strengthen the supply chain to Western manufacturers.
