World Chocolate Day, a day to not only indulge, but to remember the people and landscapes that grow the cocoa that goes into our favorite products. Both are vital to help maintain a sustainable future for cocoa production. That’s why as part of our Cocoa Compass sustainability ambition, we collaborate with our customers and partners on multi-stakeholder partnerships to drive collective action and lasting impact.

Climate change is among the biggest challenges in growing cocoa. In Indonesia, for example, intensive rainfall, drought, rising temperatures, and an increase in related pests, threatens farmer yields and erodes their livelihoods, including those of women and indigenous groups that depend on their crops for subsistence. Yet many farmers struggle to access the support they need to adapt and become more resilient.

A climate-smart agroforestry system is key to addressing and mitigating climate change risks, which is why we co-created the Landscape Approach to Sustainable and Climate Change Resilient Cocoa and Coffee (LASCARCOCO), a three-year partnership with USAID, non-profit Rikolto, the Hershey Company, and the Indonesian Government, to help 6,500 farmers increase yields by 25% and conserve 14,000 hectares by late 2025.

Through the partnership, we have developed a new curriculum to train farmers in Good Agricultural Practices and climate adaption, promoted sustainable agroforestry – where forest and shade trees are planted alongside cocoa and coffee to restore forest covers – and provided farmers with seedlings. It’s already making a difference – in year one of the project, approximately 8,600 individuals were reached directly or indirectly via the program. The LASCARCOCO USAID ofi project has successfully bridged a constructed collaborative action with stakeholders involved in the project such as farmers, forest communities, government, and forest authorities to deliver an agroforestry program.

Good landscape governance is also critical to protect the land and the incomes of the farmers who work it. In Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, we’re working with the Rainforest Alliance and USAID on the Resilient Ecosystems and Sustainable Transformation of Rural Economies (RESTORE) project. This not only promotes regenerative and sustainable cocoa production; it also aims to strengthen Landscape Management Boards (LMBs).

These boards are important because they bring key stakeholders together – community members, local farmers, the Ghanaian Forestry Commission, and COCOBOD – and give the local community a say in how the land is managed. We provide ongoing support and training to LMB members on everything from management and financial literacy to climate-smart farming and forest-friendly enterprises such as beekeeping and piggery.

Whilst we’re proud of the impact we have made so far, there is still much more to do. We remain focused on working with customers, civil society, national governments, and other stakeholders to support farmers and to protect landscapes across origins – so when consumers pick up their chocolate bar or cocoa-flavored treat, they can be confident that it’s been produced in a way that supports people and helps protect the planet.

Conducting social capital impact valuation for a living income project in Honduras and launching a large-scale sustainable forest management partnership in Côte d’Ivoire are two highlights announced today by global food and beverage ingredients leader ofi, in its latest sustainability report for its coffee business.

The annual impact report for Coffee LENS (Livelihoods, Empowerment, Nature at Scale) sets out progress made by ofi’s global coffee teams in the 2023 crop year against targets to improve farmer livelihoods, empower coffee communities, and deliver climate action by 2030. Notable initiatives include conducting ofi’s first social capital impact valuation to assess the value of customized support delivered to approximately 1,000 coffee farmers in Honduras as part of a living income project with partner ALDI SOUTH Group. Analysis for the crop years 2021- 2022 and 2022- 2023 revealed that every dollar invested generated eight dollars in social value, earning the project recognition as a finalist at this year’s Reuters Sustainability Awards.

The Report also details advances in developing coffee living income strategies, generating detailed GHG digital footprints via its sustainability management system AtSource, and more than doubling the land acreage dedicated to regenerative agriculture compared to the previous year.

ofi attributes the achievements in 2023 to its long-term investment in being embedded in coffee farming communities and 45 impactful partnerships with customers, NGOs, and donors to help scale impact through its sustainability programs.

One of these partnerships is a three-year sustainable forest management program in Côte d’Ivoire, launched last year by ofi, IDH and JDE Peets, that is working to reduce pressure on the Taï National Park and Cavally nature reserve at a time when higher global coffee prices have spurred a revival of production in the region.

Acknowledging the notable rally in coffee prices last year and the climate-related supply constraints behind it, ofi’s coffee CEO Vivek Verma said: “The backdrop to our 2023 Impact Report was a year of unprecedented volatility for the coffee industry and it is coffee farmers who continue to bear a lot of the risk."

“Each year we learn how to make stronger choices that drive the most meaningful change on the ground and for our customers. In 2023, our origin teams supported over 115,000 farmers with training and inputs to help them adapt and become more resilient in the face of these perennial challenges, as well as equipping as many as possible with the resources required to meet the EU’s incoming requirements for traceable, deforestation-free coffee.”

The report also details intensive technical work undertaken last year to enhance data and traceability systems, which includes registering an additional 16,000+ coffee farmers to the company’s direct sourcing network via its digital farmer information system (OFIS) and developing an internal digital solution for farm-level traceability, ‘Track and Trace’.

Verma adds: “This groundwork is helping us plan and cost more targeted interventions on deforestation prevention, GHG reductions and living income, while also catering to increasing regulatory reporting and compliance requirements. It means that from action plans to detailed scenario planners, we can offer our customers and partners the traceability, capability, insights and choices to drive positive change and protect the romantic story of the coffee we all sell.”

Access the full Coffee LENS 2023 Impact Report and its contribution to ofi’s overarching sustainability strategy Choices for Change can be viewed here.

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Creating novel upcycled cascara products

We have developed a process to develop cascara ingredients by rescuing coffee pulp and skin from the waste stream on our estates in Laos, Tanzania and Zambia, and from farmers across our sourcing network in Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Guatemala and Peru. This upcycling process means we can bring valuable nutrients back into the food supply, reduce greenhouse gases, and increase revenues for coffee farmers.

For our customers, it means we can offer a soluble cascara powder that’s traceable and certified as an upcycled ingredient by the Upcycled Food Association (UFA). With desirable notes of caramel, molasses, honey, and tamarind, it can bring a unique flavor to many applications from iced teas and energy drinks to confectionary and desserts.