Swiss chocolate industry pledges at least 80% sustainable cocoa by 2025

26-Jan-2018 - Last updated on 26-Jan-2018 at 14:36 GMT

Swiss industry rallies for a more sustainable chocolate sector. ©GettyImages-IvonneW

Swizterland has become the third country to set a target on sustainable cocoa sourcing.

Today, 41 actors in the Swiss cocoa industry – including Barry Callebaut - have committed to sourcing at least 80% of cocoa volumes from sustainable sources by 2025.

The companies joined together to form the 'Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa' in June last year, under an initiative led by trade body Chocosuisse, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and NGOs such as Swisscontact and Helvetas.

Then there were three

Switzerland joins two other European countries that have made pledges on sustainable cocoa.

In 2010, the Dutch government agreed with industry to ensure all chocolate products produced for the Dutch market would be ‘fully sustainable’ by 2025.

The German Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa (GISCO) – comprising around 70 members including government departments and chocolate players such as Ritter, Barry Callebaut and Mars – previously pledged to source at least 70% of cocoa in cocoa-containing end products produced by members in Germany from sustainable sources by 2020.

ConfectioneryNews has contacted Chocosuisse to confirm its definition of sustainable cocoa and is awaiting a response.

The pledge aligns with Barry Callebaut's commitment to source 100% of its cocoa from the group's definition of sustainability by 2025, under its Forever Chocolate intiative.