A coalition of cocoa stakeholders in its latest 2023 Chocolate Scorecard, have advised governments to increase the price of cocoa as “farmers need to be paid more for their cocoa to ensure a sustainable life”.
According to the group, this move will address “child labour, forced labour and human trafficking as well as the deforestation of national forests is indisputable”.
The report labeled Original Beans as the most sustainable chocolate company, followed by Tony’s ChocoLonely and Beyond Good.
The group advocated the need for “consumers and investors to know where their chocolate come from and what they invest in” to ensure that companies and people in the cocoa value chain adhere to the rules and regulations.
The report further states that “cocoa is a major global driver of forest destruction. West Africa, (Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana) produces three-quarters of the world’s cocoa, but has lost about 94% and 80% respectively, of their forests to cocoa production in the last 60 years. Out of the 53 companies that responded, 48 of them have a ‘no-deforestation’ policy in place. This policy required their suppliers to source cocoa from areas where there has been no destruction of the forest canopy”.
Also, “the survey found that the Sustainability claims of chocolate companies cannot necessarily be trusted. Sustainability claims made by companies are defined narrowly to refer only to their programs, which may foster sustainable practices but do not refer to the actual status of their cocoa or necessarily improve the actual living conditions of cocoa farmers. It was found that farmers taking part in sustainability programmes are often not well compensated for their efforts and remain extremely poor.”
The 2023 Chocolate Scorecard is led by three research institutions – Macquire University Sydney, The Open University, UK, and the University of Wollongong and coordinated by Be Slavery Free (Australia) and supported by a global coalition of NGOs including Green America, INKOTA, Mighty Earth, EcoCare Ghana, and the National Wildlife Federation.