Tip 2/24 : Offer chocolate from sustainable sources

A brief look at cocoa farming

Cacao trees are often grown as a monoculture, a practice which rapidly degrades soil. Soil devoid of nutrients contributes to deforestation. Deforestation leads to dry, impoverished land and the loss of biodiversity.

Small-scale producers must contend with very low market prices that do not allow them to generate sufficient income to improve their precarious economic situations. To generate more revenue, producers use strategies that promote rapid but unsustainable crop growth: pesticide use, monocropping, etc. Producers also turn toward cheap or free labour to decrease the cost of operations; that is to say, child labour.

Want to know more?

Check out France 2’s special coverage on child labour in cocoa production: Cacao : les enfants pris au piège.

How can organic, fair trade and sustainability certification help the environment and improve the lives of producers?

Cocoa Horizons certification aims to produce chocolate from sustainable sources. The following are some of the benefits its program targets:

• Best agricultural practice training improves environmental conservation and the productivity of plantations.
• The premium paid by buyers of sustainable cocoa increases farmers’ incomes.
• Increasing producers’ awareness of child labour reduces the number of children exploited on cocoa farms.

What can your company do?

Do you occasionally offer chocolate as a gift to clients or employees? Make a point of offering organic, fair trade chocolate or chocolate certified by Cocoa Horizons. Where can you find these products?:

• 90% of Chocolats favoris’ cocoa is currently sustainably sourced, and its objective is to source 100% of their cocoa sustainably by 2023 thanks to the Cocoa Horizons program.
• Avril Supermarché Santé sells a variety of brands of organic chocolate that are also occasionally sustainably sourced, such as Theobroma, Endangered Species, and Green & Black's, to name a few. 
• Other specialty supermarkets or organic food markets
• Other organic wholesale stores
• Do you know other suppliers? Let us know where you go!