Forever Chocolate Progress Report 2022/23

Forever Chocolate Progress Report 2023 Barry Callebaut

Forever Chocolate Progress Report 2022/23

Our seventh Forever Chocolate progress report covering fiscal year 2022/23, highlights our achievements from the past year and delves deeper into our evolving strategy. It underlines our commitment to intensify our efforts by collaborating with customers, industry partners, and wider society, to drive real change on the ground. Simultaneously, we remain steadfast in our advocacy of policies to make sustainable chocolate the norm.
Forever Chocolate Progress Report 2023 results

Highlights

  • Forever Chocolate - We added almost 120,000 new cocoa farmers to our sustainability programs, expanding our reach by 35%.
  • Prospering Farmers - Our Farm Services business continued to support almost 170,000 farmers, notably more than doubling the size of our programs to support cocoa farmers with paid labor teams, reaching almost 20,000 ha.
  • Human Rights - Strong focus on strengthening community systems and child labor monitoring & remediation systems covering close to 80% of farmer groups in our direct supply chain.
  • Thriving Nature - Extended our intensified agroforestry approach including payment for ecosystem services newly establishing over 18,000 ha.
  • Sustainable Ingredients - More than half of products sold contain 100% sustainable cocoa or chocolate.

We report every year on the progress of our time-bound, measurable targets, and these reports are verified by an independent, third-party assurance provider. This Progress Report covers Fiscal Year 2022/23, ending 30 August 2023.

Forever Chocolate - Ambitious Targets, Leadership, Customer Solutions and Operational Excellence

In May 2023, we presented a set of sharpened targets for Forever Chocolate. We have not only sharpened our targets but also fundamentally rethought our approach in order to achieve the biggest impact. Our approach combines ambitious targets, thought leadership, customer solutions, and operational excellence.

  • With regard to thought leadership, we are committed to leading by example and providing valuable insights through, for example, the release of our White Paper which underpins our vision for a transformative approach to improve the existing cocoa farming model in Côte d'Ivoire and, more broadly, across West Africa.
  • Concerning customer solutions, our customers are our priority and we have developed key flagship programs that provide innovative solutions tailored to their needs.
  • As to operational excellence, this is driven by our over 1,600 colleagues in cocoa-origin countries, who form the backbone of our organization, contributing their expertise, skills, and unique perspectives. As the largest supplier of sustainable cocoa products and chocolate, we strive to excel in every aspect of our operations across the entire supply chain and have the ability to scale up on key activities with precision.
Barry Callebaut CEO Peter Feld

Message from the CEO

I am delighted to share with you our latest Forever Chocolate Progress Report, marking the seventh edition of our approach and progress to make sustainable chocolate the norm.

This past year has been a time of reflection and in-depth analysis. It has given us a new outlook on advancing best-in-class sustainability, positioning us at the forefront of innovation and inspiring modern cocoa farming practices. We're not just envisioning the future; we're sculpting it. Our commitment propels us to lead the charge in igniting industry-shaping change toward an unprecedented era for a sustainable cocoa supply chain.

I want to express my gratitude to our employees. Their expertise, dedication and skills is THE ingredient for our continued success as the world’s best chocolate solutions company. I also want to extend our appreciation to our partners, suppliers, and customers for embracing our sustainability journey. Each and every achievement we have accomplished is a testament to their unwavering 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

2022/23

Our goal

By 2025, 500,000 cocoa farmers in our supply chain will have been lifted out of poverty. By 2030, we will have mobilized key stakeholders around a transformative cocoa farming model generating living income.

Our approach

At Barry Callebaut, we aim to transform the way cocoa is produced by enhancing the existing farming model in Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa, and beyond. We firmly believe that focusing on increasing production volumes from a smaller group of farmers, who can then achieve a living income through a combination of better yield, larger farms, and higher farm gate prices, is the key.

Many cocoa farmers struggle to make a living income. Their main challenge is access to investments in their farms. This is why we shifted our focus from training to providing input support. Our support ranges from subsidized soil inputs and planting material to financial support for third-party labor services and additional premiums. Improving quality yield per hectare remains key to lift smallholder cocoa farmers out of poverty and put them on a trajectory towards a living income.

Prospering farmers 2023 Barry Callebaut

Our measured impact

  • 269,762 cocoa farmers in our supply chain out of poverty

  • 169,981 cocoa farmers had access to Farm Services

  • We more than doubled our programs to support farmers with paid labor teams to improve cocoa quality yield, reaching almost 20,000 ha

  • 325,859 farmers with full data collected (geographical mapping and farmer census)

  • Almost 4.1 million cocoa seedlings distributed in 2022/23

Human rights 2023 Barry Callebaut

Human Rights

2022/23

Our goal

By 2025, our entire supply chain will be covered by Human Rights Due Diligence, remediating all child labor cases identified. By 2030, the farming communities we source from are empowered to protect child rights.

Our approach

We envision that all children are able to embrace opportunities and realize their full potential, living in communities that are safe and self-reliant for all. We support a system strengthening approach, contributing to existing government structures and working with multiple stakeholders.

We focus our efforts on strengthening community systems to better protect children whilst still continuing our aim of remediating all cases of child labor found. Our community approach starts with understanding which farming communities are most at risk, and providing these farming communities with the necessary support through a combination of strengthening the local child protection system, access to quality education and adequate community infrastructure, and improved livelihoods.

At the same time, Barry Callebaut applies an overarching human rights due diligence framework modeled after the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct.

Human Right 2023 Barry Callebaut

Our measured impact

  • 77% of the farmer groups in our direct supply chain undertake child labor monitoring and remediation activities

  • 53,839 cases of child labor identified

  • 65,569 of the reported cases found also in previous years, under remediation

  • We have now conducted in-depth, independent Human Rights Impact Assessments (HRIAs) for all the main cocoa sourcing countries and regions

  • We supported over 1,300 VSLAs*, which helped members save CHF 1.3 million and borrow CHF 0.7 million to start businesses

  • 29% of the cocoa and non-cocoa volumes sourced from third-party suppliers whereby Barry Callebaut considers the risk of child labor is adequately addressed

*Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs)

Thriving Nature 2023 sustainability Barry Callebaut

Thriving Nature

2022/23

Our goal

By 2025, we will be forest positive. By 2030, we will have decarbonized our footprint in line with global efforts to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius. By 2050, we will be a net zero company. 

Our approach

To ensure the stability of ecosystems we are committed to reducing our carbon footprint and achieving a forest positive supply chain. This means our goal is to go beyond sourcing activities and deforestation-free supply chains and contribute to long-term and large-scale forest conservation.

At the same time our aim is to empower communities, helping farmers prosper by increasing the long-term productivity of cocoa farming in environmentally suitable areas while mitigating the impact of climate change, preserving ecosystems and restoring natural biodiversity on existing farmland.

While maintaining our target to become forest positive by 2025, we are focusing on insetting our carbon emissions through agroforestry and other decarbonization initiatives across our factories and value chain. This shift is aligned with the emissions reduction trajectory of the Paris Agreement for 2030, and will help us become a net-zero company by 2050.

Thriving Nature 2023 Barry Callebaut

Our measured impact

  • Almost 20% reduction of carbon intensity per ton of product since the start of Forever Chocolate in 2016

  • Over 18,000 ha added to our intensified agroforestry approach, including paying farmers for ecosystem services

  • Over 3,2 million trees for agroforestry projects and almost 100,000 trees for reforestation projects distributed in 2022/23

  • 35 factories, out of a total of 66 company-wide, are now sourcing 100% renewable electricity

  • 34% sourced raw materials demonstrated not to be contributing to deforestation

Forever Chocolate - Sustainable Ingredients 2023

Sustainable Ingredients

2022/23

Our goal

By 2030, we will have 100% certified or verified cocoa and ingredients in all of our products, traceable to farm level.

Our approach

We are collaborating closely with our suppliers, engaging in industry-level working groups and striving to increase customer demand for sustainable products while implementing our sustainable sourcing programs across all ingredients. Our goal is to integrate these programs into regulatory frameworks, establish strong government partnerships, and positively shape agricultural policies.

Traceability is a cornerstone of our Forever Chocolate commitment to making sustainable chocolate the norm. Through our traceability systems, we not only ensure transparency and accountability, we can also accurately track and monitor the origins of our products, promoting ethical practices, safeguarding human rights and reducing environmental impact through deforestation monitoring, education, prevention and other programs.

Whenever possible, we are driving impact on the ground by working directly with farmers and cooperatives. In addition to cocoa, we have various origin-based projects covering dairy, coconut oil, palm oil and cane sugar. 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 2023 Barry Callebaut

Our measured impact

  • More than half of products sold contain 100% sustainable cocoa or chocolate

  • 80% sustainably sourced non-cocoa raw materials

  • We maintained traceability at nearly 80% for cocoa volumes in our direct supply chain, mapping over 500’000 farm plots

  • 71.2% of our dairy is sourced sustainably according to VisionDairy and other benchmarked standards

  • We reached 98.4% traceability to mill and 87.0% traceability to plantation for the palm oil we source

  • CHF 50.1 million premiums generated from Cocoa Horizons products in 2022/23

Our progress on Forever Chocolate over the years

Since 2016 have been collecting a large number of key performance indicators (KPIs) that not only track the key approach and progress of our Forever Chocolate program but also cover Barry Callebaut’s material topics, as defined by our stakeholders. 

Interested in our Forever Chocolate progress over the years? Check out our data sheet showing key KPIs from 2016/17 until 2022/23.

Find all the downloads on the following link:

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