Many companies in the cocoa business are working to improve their sustainability efforts in a variety of ways. Improving the lives of farmers and their communities, working to avoid child labor and aiming to prevent deforestation are just a few of the efforts.

“We really try to put some meat behind our statement that sustainability is one of our core values,” said Eckhart Kiesel, vice president, sustainability and business management, Ciranda. “Sustainability not only has an environmental but also social and financial metrics.”

Ciranda has a wide-ranging sustainability program that keeps an eye on the company’s environmental footprint, including energy, water, greenhouse gases and other metrics, such as ensuring farmers earn a living wage through fair trade programs.

Puratos’ Cacao-Trace program helps train farmers in best practices then rewards them for producing high-quality beans. The program guarantees a premium price that includes a 5¢ bonus that goes to the farmers for every pound of cocoa sold.

Olam Cocoa’s Cocoa Compass program has set goals that include helping 150,000 farmers achieve a living income and creating a net increase in tree carbon stock by 2030. Olam Food Ingredients is collaborating with Mondelez International, Chicago, to create what it calls the world’s largest sustainable commercial cocoa farm in Indonesia, which will feature advanced farming practices and promote biodiversity and carbon capture.

Cargill’s Cocoa Promise program, launched in 2012, now operates in five origin companies.

“We are working to provide long-term solutions that benefit farmers, their communities and natural ecosystems while increasing transparency in the cocoa supply chain,” said Kate Clancy, senior sustainability manager, cocoa and chocolate, Cargill.

Barry Callebaut has set several sustainability goals for 2025, including lifting 500,000 farmers out of poverty, having 100% sustainable ingredients in all products, and being carbon and forest positive.

This article is an excerpt from the June 2021 issue of Baking & Snack. To read the entire feature on Chocolate, click here.