Forever Chocolate Progress Report 2021/22

Forever Chocolate Progress Report 2022 Barry Callebaut

Forever Chocolate Progress Report 2021/22

Our sixth Forever Chocolate progress report, covering fiscal year 2021/22, shows that we continue to scale up our activities by partnering with customers as well as societal and industry stakeholders to create tangible impact on the ground, while at the same time publicly advocating for policies to make sustainable chocolate the norm.
Forever Chocolate Progress Report 2021/22

Highlights

  • Prospering Farmers - Our Farm Services business continued to support 171,710 (+36.7%) farmers including over 8,000 ha covered with subsidized soil inputs and paid labor teams to improve cocoa quality yield
  • Zero Child Labor - Child labor monitoring & remediation system covering >80% farmer groups in our direct supply chain
  • Thriving Nature - Launched our intensified agroforestry approach including payment for ecosystem services across 11,000 ha
  • Sustainable Chocolate - 1 out of 2 products sold contains 100% sustainable cocoa or chocolate

Our springboard for fresh ambition

Sustainability is at the heart of Barry Callebaut, representing one of our four strategic pillars. In 2016, we launched Forever Chocolate, the next chapter in our long-standing commitment to building a sustainable cocoa and chocolate supply chain.

Every year, we report on the progress of these time-bound, measurable targets, which are assured by a third-party independent assurance provider. This Progress Report, covers Fiscal Year 2021/22, ending 30 August 2022.

As the future requirements for a sustainable chocolate supply chain are constantly evolving and transforming, we have assessed where our targets need sharpening. Our conclusion? We want to add fresh ambition to our Forever Chocolate Plan. In fiscal year 2022/23, we will present a set of sharpened targets, using our ongoing Forever Chocolate targets for 2025 as a springboard.

Our approach - Sustainability Barry Callebaut
  • Shaping policy, regulations and norms
  • Traceability – a key priority that can only be achieved through collaboration
  • Our commitment to reporting on ESG risks
  • External recognition of our progress and impact
Barry Callebaut CEO Peter Boone

Message from the CEO

It is with great pleasure that I present to you our sixth Forever Chocolate Progress report. It’s been a year of collaboration, achievement and valuable partnerships. A year that once again underlined what impact can be created when key stakeholders join forces and work together for a fully sustainable cocoa sector. 

I would like to thank our employees, partners, suppliers and customers for embracing our sustainability pathway - all our accomplishments were possible only with their dedication and passion. I warmly invite other stakeholders to join the Forever Chocolate movement. Together we can make sustainable chocolate the norm. 

Prospering Farmers - Forever Chocolate

Prospering Farmers

2021/22

Our goal

By 2025, more than 500,000 cocoa farmers in our supply chain will have been lifted out of poverty.

Our approach

Cocoa cultivation, unlike many other food crops, is still largely dependent on manual labor in many cocoa-growing regions. Almost two-thirds of global cocoa is produced in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. It is predominantly grown by independent smallholder farmers supplying a range of companies, sometimes via several cooperatives. Cocoa accounts for a significant part of smallholder farmers' income. Cocoa farmers and their families usually live in villages and are required to travel a few kilometers to work on their farms, with most of the work and labor on the farm undertaken by the farmer and their families themselves.

To have more than 500,000 farmers in our supply chain lifted out of poverty, our focus is to continue supporting farmers to modernize agriculture and cultivation methods, increase yields, diversify income and professionalize farming practices. We are focusing on three main components to improve a cocoa farmer’s quality yield per hectare: improved planting material, productivity packages and financial support for third-party labor services.

Prospering Farmers 2022 - Forever Chocolate Impact

Our measured impact

  • 214,124 cocoa farmers in our supply chain out of poverty

  • 171,710 cocoa farmers had access to Farm Services (+36.7%)

  • 8,000 hectares covered by programs to support farmers with subsidized soil inputs and paid labor teams

  • Over 235,871 farmers with full data (geographical mapping and farmer census)

  • Almost 4 million cocoa seedlings distributed in 2021/22

Eradicate child labor 2022 Barry Callebaut

Zero Child Labor

2021/22

Our goal

By 2025, we will eradicate child labor from our supply chain.

Our approach

Barry Callebaut sources cocoa from regions where child labor, defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to their physical and mental development, occurs, mostly on family owned farms.
In line with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the solution lies not in terminating sourcing activities from these regions, but in assessing, monitoring and remediating on the ground the risk of children becoming involved in child labor. This means understanding which farming communities are most at risk, and providing these farming communities with the necessary support through a combination of poverty alleviation, access to quality education and adequate social infrastructure, and awareness raising. Abandoning a region because of the challenges it faces would only worsen its economic and human rights situation.

Barry Callebaut’s approach to fighting child labor is based on child-centered systems, strengthening and applying data-driven risk analysis capabilities under an overarching human rights due diligence framework. We continue to monitor and identify and remediate cases of child labor in our cocoa supply chain in West Africa. At the same time we implement a wider community-based approach, developing community action plans, building the capacity of local authorities and funding VSLAs.

Eradicate Child labor 2022 Forever Chocolate Impact

Our measured impact

  • 81% of the farmer groups in our direct supply chain undertake child labor monitoring and remediation activities

  • 25,235 cases of child labor identified

  • 41,794 of the reported cases found in previous years, under remediation

  • 100,743 farmers trained on child labor awareness

  • 23% of the cocoa and non-cocoa volumes sourced from third-party suppliers whereby Barry Callebaut considers the risk of child labor is adequately addressed

Thriving Nature 2022 sustainability Barry Callebaut

Thriving Nature

2021/22

Our goal

By 2025, we will be carbon and forest positive

Our approach

Deforestation and forest degradation are important drivers of climate change and biodiversity loss - the two major environmental challenges of our time. Their main driver is the expansion of agricultural land linked to commodities such as soy, palm oil and cocoa, all three ingredients found in chocolate products. In addition, when looking at cocoa, climate change, poor soil quality, the suboptimal use of agrochemicals, and a lack of natural inputs, such as shade cover and pollinators, are putting even more pressure on cocoa farmers, who are already struggling with declining cocoa yields.
To ensure the stability of ecosystems, the entire chocolate industry must be committed to reducing its carbon footprint and achieving a deforestation-free supply chain. In 2019, we released our science-based targets. These carbon reduction targets have been externally assessed and support the global carbon reduction trajectory required to limit global warming to +1.5°C.
Throughreducing our carbon footprint,agroforestry and reforestation, we aim to mitigate the impact of climate change and restore natural biodiversity while helping farmers to prosper and increase their long-term productivity.

Thriving nature - Forever Chocolate

Our measured impact

  • 18% reduction of carbon intensity per ton of product since the start of Forever Chocolate in 2016

  • Implementation of our intensified agroforestry approach covering 11,000 hectares

  • Over 5 million non-cocoa trees distributed for agroforestry projects in 2021/22

  • 25% sourced raw materials demonstrated not to be contributing to deforestation

Forever Chocolate - Sustainable Chocolate

Sustainable Chocolate

2021/22

Our goal

By 2025, we will have 100% sustainable ingredients in all our products.

Our approach

At Barry Callebaut, approximately half of the ingredient volume we source consists of cocoa products and the other half consists of other ingredients – sugar, dairy, palm oil, coconut oil, sweeteners, nuts and vanilla, among others. Each ingredient we use has its own unique sustainability challenges. To reach our target of 100% sustainable ingredients by 2025, we collaborate closely with our suppliers, engage in industry-level working groups and strive to increase customer demand for sustainable products while implementing our sustainable sourcing programs across all ingredients.
We work with, and implement, various sustainable cocoa programs to improve cocoa farmer livelihoods and farming practices. Among them is Cocoa Horizons, our preferred vehicle to drive impact and deliver on our Forever Chocolate ambition while addressing customer needs.

Sustainable ingredients 2022 Forever Chocolate Barry Callebaut

Our measured impact

  • 1 out of 2 products sold containing 100% sustainable cocoa or chocolate

  • 73% sustainably sourced non-cocoa raw materials

  • 50% of all agricultural raw materials sustainably sourced

  • CHF 37.4 million premiums generated from Cocoa Horizons products in 2021/22

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