Barry Callebaut has reached a new milestone in its plan to build a sustainable cocoa supply chain by disclosing its direct cocoa suppliers in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Cameroon.
The map shows the location of cooperatives and buying stations where Barry Callebaut is directly sourcing cocoa. By publicly sharing this information, the cocoa and chocolate giant claims it’s boosting transparency and traceability in its cocoa supply chain.
The map includes geographical data on cooperatives and districts in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Cameroon. Each pin point on the map details the geographical location, cooperative or district name, certification scheme and the number of farmers they are sourcing from in our supply chain.
Mapping farms to protect forests
Barry Callebaut committed under Forever Chocolate to make sustainable chocolate the norm by 2025. One important pillar of this plan is the elimination of deforestation from their supply chain. Mapping is a critical step to ending deforestation, because it shows if the farm is located in a protected forest area, and allows them to exclude cocoa purchases from farms fully or partly located within a protected area boundary.
The opening up of the geographical location of the cooperatives and districts we are directly sourcing from to public scrutiny, is proof of the robustness of our approach to exclude cocoa grown in protected forest areas from our direct supply chain
Pablo Perversi, Chief Innovation, Sustainability & Quality Officer; Global Head of Gourmet
Mapping farms to support farmer livelihoods
Barry Callebaut is combining the geographical mapping of cocoa farms with farmer census interviews. This combination not only provides them with key insights into the geographical location of the farm, but also the farm size, crops grown, as well as the household composition and income of thousands of cocoa farmers and their farms.
As of the end of 2018/19, they mapped the geographical location, as well as the size of 295,383 cocoa farms which are captured in their Katchilè database. They also conducted census interviews with 229,142 cocoa farmers, capturing socioeconomic and household data.
This collection of farmer data has also allowed them to individualize their ‘Farm Business Plans’. These are designed to enable farmers to develop their cocoa farms into rehabilitated, diverse and professionally run farms over a period of several years. The plans offer specific advice on the best mix of seedlings and fertilizers and help farmers to access labour and inputs on credit. In 2018/19, over 16,000 farmers have adopted ‘Farm Business Plans’.
