Live Long Cocoa
Creating a fair and sustainable cocoa sector
Our challenges related to the cocoa sector
Our products’ main ingredient – cocoa – is facing a growing number of social and environmental issues for which it is our duty to respond if we want our cocoa-producer partners’ businesses to develop and flourish over the long run.
Producers’ living conditions, deforestation and climate change are some of the threats we are confronted with. Cocoa’s value chain is complex, not least because cocoa is produced in the Global South but consumed in the Global North. Good supply management and traceability represent challenges of their own.
Our objectives and progress
100% Traceability
for our cocoa beans from the producer.
17% traceability
for cocoa beans from the farm parcel. Target: 100% by 2021.
81% of the producer countries
visited at least once per calendar year. Target: 100% by 2021.
14 out of our 16 source countries
are part of a long-term partnership.
93% of our cocoa
purchased through a long-term partnership. Initial Target: 90%.
7 years
average length of a partnership.
100% of producers suppported
in adopting agroforestry practices by 2025.
Long term partnerships
At Valrhona, we work to create a fair and sustainable cocoa sector by building close, mutually beneficial relationships with our 18,208 cocoa producers. We do this by forging long-term partnerships with producer organizations who share our vision and focus on quality and traceability.
From the construction of housing and schools to the protection of rare cocoa varieties, the projects we carry out together reflect our commitment to producing communities and the environment.
Traceability
At Valrhona, 100% of our cocoa is traced from our 18,208 producers around the world.
This traceability is the basis for creating a fair and sustainable industry.
It allows us to know where our cocoa comes from, who harvested it and under what conditions.
This helps to improve the living and working conditions of producers and to fight against deforestation, while guaranteeing the quality of our cocoa beans.
Protecting the forest and its biodiversity
We are committed to protecting the forests in the 16 countries where we source our cocoa.
We know that tropical farming, including of cocoa, is one of the main causes of deforestation and biodiversity loss.
This environmental damage not only contributes to climate change, but also threatens the future of our producers and supply chain.
This is why we must ensure the conservation of the environmental heritage of producer countries and work with our cocoa-producing partners to promote responsible farming.
