Disclosure of cooperative suppliers in Côte d’Ivoire

News 16^th Jul, 2020

In October 2019 we launched Cocoa Compass, our sustainability ambition for the future of cocoa. With milestones for action in 2020 and 2024, it sets concrete goals for 2030 across our global, direct cocoa supply chain. These goals will help us achieve our vision of an environmentally positive, professionalised and quality focused cocoa supply chain comprising farmers earning a living income and whose children have access to education.

Transparency and traceability are at the heart of our Cocoa Compass ambition. To this end, we are pleased to publish a comprehensive list of our cooperative suppliers in Côte d’Ivoire after first gaining written permission from the Conseil Café Cacao and the respective cooperatives to share their data publicly. It includes details of the 201 cooperatives who are key partners in the sustainability programmes we conduct with our customers.

For the 2019/2020 season, we aim to source over 170,000 tonnes of verified or certified sustainable cocoa through these cooperatives, 100% of which can be digitally traced at the first point of transaction and across every stage of our direct supply chain. This means that at any point we know exactly where the cocoa has come from and can ensure it is in line with our Cocoa Compass goals.

Our commitment to cocoa in Côte d’Ivoire began over two decades ago and extends across the supply chain from cocoa bean origination to crafting premium cocoa ingredients. From a dedicated and loyal group of suppliers, we have grown the scale and scope of our business through strong supplier partnerships which are focused on increasing procurement volumes, providing long term financial and infrastructure support and engaging with farmers and their communities to enhance knowledge and understanding of emerging issues in the cocoa supply chain. We have also been a champion of domestic cocoa processing and are now one of the top three cocoa processors in the country. Our African origin ingredient brand, Unicao, is produced with the highest standards of quality and food safety to bring the unique flavours of Ivorian cocoa to the world.

All of our suppliers are required to adhere to our supplier code and identify any risks related to human rights, child labour or deforestation. If any supplier is found to be in breach, we seek to educate and take remedial action as necessary including exclusion from our network.

We will share further details of our supplier network across Africa, Asia and South America in our upcoming Cocoa Compass progress reports.