Switzerland have become only the third country on the planet to set a target on sustainable cocoa sourcing, and put that in black and white.
On the 26th January, 41 players within the Swiss cocoa industry – including global giants Barry Callebaut – have all committed to sourcing a minimum of 80% cocoa volumes from sustainable sources by 2025.
The companies clubbed together in order to form the ‘Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa’ in June 2017, which was an initiative led by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), trade body Chocosuisse, and NGOs like Helvetas and Swisscontact.
Currently, there are just two other European countries who have made pledges on sustainable cocoa.
Back in 2010, the Dutch government made an agreement with the rest of the industry to make sure that every single product that was produced for the Dutch market would be ‘fully sustainable’ by 2025.
Meanwhile, The German Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa (GISCO) – which comprises of about 70 different members, which includes government departments as well as huge chocolate players such as Mars, Ritter, and Barry Callebaut – previously stated that they want to source at least 70% cocoa in cocoa-containing end products that are produced by members in Germany from sustainable sources by the year of 2020.
