Zurich, Switzerland — Barry Callebaut has released its 2021/2022 Forever Chocolate Progress Report, revealing strides the company has made toward making sustainable chocolate the norm, and stating that one out of two of the company’s products sold contains sustainable chocolate.
The also shows that the company is continuing to scale up its activities by partnering with customers as well as societal and industry stakeholders to create a tangible impact on the ground. One of the key achievements, according to Barry Callebaut, is that with the support of its customers, it has increased the proportion of products sold containing 100% sustainable cocoa or chocolate to 49.4 percent.
The company points out that sustainably sourced cocoa includes cocoa grown in accordance with various sustainable cocoa certification programs, improving cocoa farmers’ livelihoods through premium payments and farming practices. In addition to this certification, Barry Callebaut reports it is deploying programs to fight child labor and deforestation, reduce carbon emissions and improve farmer prosperity. Among them is Cocoa Horizons, its preferred vehicle to drive impact and deliver on the Forever Chocolate goals, while addressing customer needs.
With a sustainable sourcing target of 100% sustainable ingredients in all its products, the company reports approximately half of the ingredient volume it sources consists of cocoa products and the other half consists of other ingredients — sugar, dairy, palm oil, coconut oil, sweeteners, nuts and vanilla, among others.
“We will continue pushing the envelope and setting new standards in sustainable sourcing, offering our customers best-in-class solutions,” notes Massimo Selmo, chief procurement officer, Barry Callebaut Group.
Forever Chocolate also targets to have more than 500,000 cocoa farmers in the supply chain lifted out of poverty, eradicate child labor from our supply chain and become carbon and forest positive.
“Our Forever Chocolate Progress Report, covering fiscal year 2021/22, shows that we continue to scale up our activities by partnering with customers as well as industry stakeholders to create tangible impact on the ground, while at the same time publicly advocating for policies to make sustainable chocolate the norm,” says Steven Retzlaff, president global cocoa, Barry Callebaut Group.
Our key achievements noted in the report include:
- Prospering Farmers – The Farm Services Business continued to support 171,710 (+36.7 percent) farmers in 2021/22. In addition, programs supporting subsidized soil inputs and paid labor teams to improve cocoa quality yield per hectare were ramped up across 8,000 hectares in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.
- Zero Child Labor – 80.6 percent of the farmer groups that are part of the company’s direct supply chain have systems in place to prevent, monitor and remediate child labor, compared to 61.4 percent in prior year.
- Thriving Nature – Barry Callebaut launched an intensified agroforestry approach across 11,000 hectares in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire with a focus on long-term success through training, extended monitoring and payment for ecosystem services.
- Sustainable Chocolate – With the support of its customers, the company increased the proportion of products sold containing 100% sustainable cocoa or chocolate to 49.4 percent in 2021/22, compared to 42.6 percent in prior year. This corresponds to one in two products.
“As the future requirements for a sustainable chocolate supply chain are constantly evolving and transforming, we have assessed where our targets need sharpening. Our conclusion? We want to add fresh ambition to our Forever Chocolate Plan. In spring 2023, we will present a set of sharpened targets, using our ongoing Forever Chocolate targets for 2025 as a springboard,” says Peter Boone, CEO of the Barry Callebaut Group.
