US snacking giant Mondelez International said its Cocoa Life sustainability programme will provide all of its cocoa requirements for its chocolate brands by 2025, more than doubling the current quota.
The Cadbury Dairy Milk and Milka maker launched Cocoa Life six years ago with a key aim of ending deforestation, and the programme now takes in suppliers in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Indonesia, the Dominican Republic, India and Brazil. Some 43% of its cocoa is currently sourced through the programme.
“Our purpose at Mondelez International is to empower people to snack right and that journey begins with the ingredients we source, including cocoa,” said chairman and chief executive Dirk Van de Put. “As demand for chocolate continues to grow, we are leading the transformation to build a thriving cocoa sector, an ingredient essential to our growth. This is an important milestone for our Cocoa Life programme and will ensure more consumers around the world can be confident that the chocolate brands they love are made the right way.”
When launched in 2012, Mondelez said it committed US$400m to Cocoa Life over ten years, increasing cocoa “productivity and empowering local cocoa farming communities to improve their resilience”. The company works directly with farmers and their communities to improve skills, education and access to essential cocoa-producing resources.
Mondelez said the results of the programme show cocoa yields are continuously improving, farmers are choosing not to expand into protected forests, and communities are able to steer their own development.
Van de Put added: “The expansion of Cocoa Life moves Mondelez International a step closer to improving the positive impact the company has on people and the planet. Through Cocoa Life, we are leading the way in the fight against climate change in the cocoa sector and playing an active role in securing sustainable supplies of key raw materials. ”
