Barry Callebaut discloses direct cocoa suppliers in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Cameroon

By publicly sharing the geographic location of the cooperatives and districts they source from, they are contributing to transparency and traceability in the cocoa supply chain.

Barry Callebaut has reached a new milestone in its plan to build a sustainable cocoa supply chain: the company is disclosing its direct cocoa suppliers in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Cameroon. This map shows the location of cooperatives and buying stations they are directly sourcing their cocoa from. By publicly sharing this information, the company is contributing to transparency and traceability in the cocoa supply chain. This data also demonstrates the evolution of the company's data collection capabilities and its confidence in the robustness of their data.

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 the company is sourcing from in its supply chain. Barry Callebaut will continue to update this map as part of its continuing progression towards a more transparent supply chain.

The company committed under Forever Chocolate to make sustainable chocolate the norm by 2025. One important pillar of this plan is the elimination of deforestation from the 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 the company to exclude cocoa purchases from farms fully or partly located within a protected area boundary.

Mapping farms to support farmer livelihoods

The company 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, Barry Callebaut mapped the geographical location, as well as the size of 295,383 cocoa farms which are captured in its Katchilè database. The company also conducted census interviews with 229,142 cocoa farmers, capturing socio-economic and household data.

This unprecedented collection of farmer data has also allowed the company to individualize its 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 labor and inputs on credit. In 2018/19, over 16,000 farmers have adopted Farm Business Plans.

How does this data help us and the farmers the company sources from? To read more please visit the latest Forever Chocolate Progress Report.

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