Exclusive: Mars group’s global cocoa sustainability director rises to industry challenges

While cocoa is facing a considerable crisis on key environmental, social and legislative fronts, there remains hope for its sector. Neill Barston speaks exclusively to Nupur Parikh, director of cocoa sustainability for Mars, at this year’s WCF partnership meeting

With the cocoa sector standing at a major crossroads, as concerns continue to mount in terms of major pricing volatility, social and environmental issues impacting farming communities, the spotlight is on the segment as never before.

The industry has made major global headlines in the past year in the wake of commodities markets veering from comparative highs of $12,000 a tonne at the start of 2025, before plummeting to well under $3,000 per tonne this past month.

This has placed major strain on the market, as companies, governments and industry trade bodies grapple with finding the key ingredients for delivering a sustainable future for what has traditionally been a highly-valued market.

Consequently, sector major players have sought to come together in forming the TogetherCocoa Foundation this past month, in a bid to help farmers gain the elusive living income levels to ensure the future for the industry as we know it.

So, is against this complex backdrop that Nupur Parikh has recently taken on the role of global senior director, cocoa sustainability at Mars.

As our title has previously reported, the company has been far from idle in its approach to tackling those core issues of supporting farming communities at the heart of the industry’s supply chain, yet there’s a considerable road ahead in achieving its goals.

Perhaps its biggest statement to date has been in pursuing its long-term Cocoa For Generations strategy, which reportedly represented a billion-dollar investment of combined actions on the ground during more than a decade.
With conditions in the sector proving as under strain as ever, it will take the full weight of such levels of funding resources and more from across in the industry at large to fulfil ambitions, yet its sustainability director is hopeful for the future, though mindful of present conditions.

“I think the theme of the day is collaboration. I think the recognition that the issues are just so deep, so structural, so fundamental. No one can pretend to solve the issues themselves, no one can try to be a lone ranger in the space,” asserts Nupur, as we grab a break at this year’s World Cocoa Foundation Partnership Meeting.

She adds: “I think the harder thing is actually activating collaboration in a way that it truly drives meaningful change, and doing it, because it’s hard work to collaborate, and so it’s about making sure we can do that effectively, making sure that we can focus on the right fundamental issues and action on those through our collaborative efforts, ensuring that the collaboration spans everyone and encompasses everyone involved, right from origin, government and farmers, two companies and everyone in between. I think that’s going to be the work to be done,” explains the sector specialist, who adds that funding is of course a central pilar for driving change.

Economics background
To her credit, the California-based executive’s background is very much one of having ‘walked the talk’ in attempting to address major issues facing an industry.

Her notable CV has afforded her a high degree of field experience that has built her skills with regards to wider insights of project work at scale.

Born and raised in India, Nupur moved to the US to further her educational goals, with the California-based sustainability director notably being a former Harvard economics graduate, reflecting that her education has proved invaluable.

She has previously spent a decade in both East and South Africa, working with smallholder producers, mainly within the coffee trade. It is clear from our conversation that forging those kind of direct community relations is vital to understanding their needs, and how industry and government can best improve their lives and living standards.

With her present role, which she took up several months ago, Nupur is now responsible for advancing its core cocoa sustainability agenda. This includes measures on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, focusing on human rights due diligence (which has presently been working its way through the EU parliament).

As she explains, her work has included examining means of delivering living income within the West African cocoa supply chain, as well as forging partnerships in the region that will have long-lasting value.

“I’ve been at Mars for about three years now, and I was leading our thriving people, our people sustainability initiative, and am now moving into taking on a broader move.

“As an economist, I have studied some of the issues we’re looking at in cocoa, such as social issues, the environmental issues, and how they are connected.
“My training has helped in terms of understanding how markets and capital works, as well as how we can find structural solutions to some of these issues,” she notes of the considerable task before her and the rest of the sector.

Its certainly not a role for the faint hearted, given the complexities surrounding the market, which have left many analysts and long-term observers repeatedly raising concerns that the dial still has not shifted significantly on reducing core issues of child labour (with most recent figures showing 1.5 million children are exposed to labour in Ghana and Ivory Coast).

Similarly, the issue of farmer pay has taken one step forward last year, with the two West African nations raising rates last year, only for them to cut them back again by around 30 per cent just this past month.

Despite such setbacks, Nupur remains optimistic in her own work, and indeed she explained her career to date had been especially rewarding in seeing sustainability goals recognised.

“I absolutely love my role, because I’m someone who cares deeply about impact That’s why I do what I do,” she adds earnestly, while acknowledging the realities of the industry in its present state of crisis.

One of the most pressing developments as we meet has been the issue of the slump in value of cocoa, which prompted emergency government action in West Africa, with pledges of radical reshaping of trading models being suggested – though precise plans have yet to be unveiled by authorities.
How concerning has Mars found this sudden price spiral that has impacted the market deeply?

“It’s not a great situation. I think that everyone likes to have some level of stability and visibility every actor in the supply chain. So it points to the fact that something fundamentally needs to be addressed around this,” says Nupur, who reveals that her first experience of the WCF partnership meeting has in fact proved an enlightening experience. In spite of the major issues facing the industry, she believed combined solutions can make a positive difference in the coming months and years ahead.