• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile

  • CORONAVIRUS
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • REGIONS
    • Asia Pacific
    • Canada
    • China
    • Europe
    • Latin America
    • Middle East/Africa
    • North America
  • THINK TANK
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » World’s Top Cocoa Growers Plan to Suspend Ethical Programs

World’s Top Cocoa Growers Plan to Suspend Ethical Programs

Against the Tide, Cocoa Growers Plan to Suspend Ethical Programs
October 21, 2019
Bloomberg

In a world that’s growing increasingly concerned about corporate commitments to environmental and social responsibility, top cocoa producers Ivory Coast and Ghana are planning to make a move that goes against the tide.

The West African nations, which produce more than 60% of the world’s cocoa, are preparing to suspend sustainability programs run by private companies including traders, confectioners and certification agencies, according to people familiar with the matter. An announcement should be made at the World Cocoa Foundation Partnership meeting in Berlin this week, said the people who asked not to be named because the information is private.

The move may come as a surprise as the ethically-minded millennial consumer is increasingly interested in knowing where food comes from, whether it has been grown sustainably and without the use of child labor. It’s also in sharp contrast to the corporate world, where investors are hatching up pressure on companies from oil majors to miners to change practices and meet climate targets.

Ivory Coast and Ghana are taking unprecedented steps to exert more control over global cocoa prices, with a joint initiative to boost farmer income by adding a premium of $400 a ton over futures prices for beans delivered starting October 2020. While most firms in the cocoa and chocolate sectors have agreed with the principle of paying farmers a higher price, many are still grappling with adhering to the new strategy as the premium can’t be hedged.

Cocoa regulators in both countries are growing increasingly frustrated with the slow adoption of the new strategy, with Ivory Coast having sold only about 10% of the bigger of two annual crops with the premium, according to people familiar with the matter. A potential suspension to sustainability schemes has so far been used as leverage for the nations to try to get more companies to commit to boosting purchases with a premium, the people said.

Chocolate makers can’t claim that they’re sourcing cocoa sustainably while holding back their support for a plan that will considerably improve the livelihoods of small-scale producers, Yves Kone, the managing director of Ivory Coast’s industry regulator, Le Conseil du Cafe-Cacao, known as the CCC, told reporters in Abidjan Oct. 11.

“Sustainability is also paying farmers," he said.

Manufacturers usually buy their cocoa six to nine months ahead, so it’s not unusual that some haven’t yet purchased beans for the 2020-21 season. Nestle SA, the world’s largest food company, said it had started sourcing cocoa for that period. Mars Inc. hasn’t yet bought any supplies, but says it’s committed to buying with the new premium. Hershey Co. said it doesn’t comment on its forward purchases but it will support the new system.

Ivory Coast and Ghana had already warned the industry they were reviewing the sustainability programs, with regulators in the nations saying the projects of chocolate brands only serve selected farmers while the new living-income premiums will benefit all growers. Ivory Coast also sees that too little of the price premiums currently in place through private sustainability programs reach farmers, with the rest going to intermediaries, one of the people familiar with the country’s plans said.

Chocolate makers and cocoa traders have invested millions of dollars in sustainability programs over the past decade. Still, cocoa farmers continued to live in poverty, with the World Bank pointing out in a July report that only a small share of the export price on international markets went to farmers.

Ivory Coast’s regulator now plans to lead its own sustainability program, while Ghana doesn’t plan to replace the private schemes with anything else as the country is already implementing projects to prevent forest degradation and adapt to climate change, people familiar with the matter said.

A spokesman for regulator Ghana Cocoa Board wouldn’t immediately comment when contacted by phone. A spokeswoman for the Ivorian counterpart didn’t answer calls or respond to text messages for comment.

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

Business Strategy Alignment Global Supply Chain Management Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility Food & Beverage Middle East/Africa
KEYWORDS Business Strategy Alignment Food & Beverage Middle East/Africa Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • Related Articles

    Top Cocoa Grower to Trace All Beans in Pledge to Protect Forests

    Top Six Challenges to Establishing an Ethical Supply Chain

    Smart Watches Top List of Health, Fitness Items Consumers Plan to Buy Online, Study Says

  • Related Events

    Post-Pandemic Impacts on Food & Beverage Businesses and How to Ensure Resiliency

Bloomberg

As Retail Sales Improved, Inventories Rose Less in February Than Expected

More from this author

Wake up to Coronavirus Updates and the latest Supply Chain News!

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter

Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • Coronavirus-watch-Armada

    Virus Update: Biden Sees Shots Widely Available by Spring; Third of Staffs Will Work From Home Permanently

    Coronavirus
  • Car Industry

    A Year of Poor Planning Led to Carmakers’ Massive Chip Shortage

    Technology
  • U.S. Vaccine Rollout Hindered by Faulty Coordination, Messaging

    WHO Fumes at Western Drugmakers As China Fills Vaccine Void

    Coronavirus
  • Third-Party Cybersecurity

    What Vaccine Supply Chains Must Do to Protect Against Cyberattack

    Coronavirus
  • Shippers

    Shippers Saw a Need for Bigger Vessels, But They Built Them Too Big

    Logistics

Digital Edition

Scb home issue 27

2020 Supply Chain Innovator of the Year

VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

Case Studies

  • LSP Saves Customer $1.5 Million a Year With MPO Global Inbound Management

  • Auto Supplier Wows Key Client Using riskmethods Supply Chain Savvy

  • Integrating Shipping and Compliance Saves Conglomerate Millions

  • How a Consumer Goods Giant Upped Its On-Time Delivery Performance

  • LSP Wows Global Client, Quickly Advances to Become End-to-End Provider

Visit Our Sponsors

6 River Systems ArcBest Armada
aThingz BluJay Burris Logistics
DSC Logistics DCSA (Digital Container Shipping Association) DHL Resilience360
Genpact GEP Honeywell Intelligrated
Infor Logility Magnitude Software
MPO Old Dominion Oliver Wight
OpenSky Ports America Purolator
QAD Precision Red Classic Riskmethods
TGW Systems Transportation Insights Watson Land Company
Westfalia Technologies Workjam Yang Ming
  • More From SCB
    • Featured Content
    • Video Library
    • Think Tank Blog
    • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
    • Whitepapers
    • Webinars
  • Digital Offerings
    • Digital Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Your Subscription
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Events Calendar
    • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
    • Supplier Directory
    • Case Study Showcase
    • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
    • 100 Great Partners Form
  • SCB Corporate
    • Advertise on SCB.COM
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Data Sharing Opt-Out

All content copyright © 2016 - 2018 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing