BDSI confirms vast majority of German cocoa now meets sustainability standards
Close-up hands of a cocoa farmer use pruning shears to cut the cocoa pods or fruit ripe yellow cacao from the cacao tree. Harvest the agricultural cocoa business produces.
Germany’s BDSI confectionery organisation has welcomed a positive development that the share of cocoa produced according to sustainability criteria in confectionery sold in Germany increased has increased 5% year-on-year to 86% in 2024, writes Neill Barston.
Significantly, as the organisation has reported, the nation has made particularly strong progress on its sourcing practices, from a low base of around 3% of total products in the sector being mindful of its production methods.
A central component of this commitment is the targeted support of smallholder farmers in the main growing regions of West Africa. Through numerous projects and programs, German confectionery manufacturers promote, among other things: More sustainable cultivation methods and good agricultural practices, increased income for cocoa farmers, e.g., through diversification
and measures to protect the environment and combat deforestation.
“From a modest beginning of around 3% in 2011, the German confectionery industry has developed into an international pioneer,” emphasises Dr. Carsten Bernoth, Managing Director of the BDSI. “The current figure of 86% impressively demonstrates that our ongoing commitment to sustainable cocoa cultivation is bearing fruit, even under difficult economic conditions.”
As the BDSI added, an important component of this is cocoa certification, which, beyond established standards, ensures additional premiums independent of fluctuating world market prices.
The BDSI is also an active member of the Sustainable Cocoa Forum, a multi-stakeholder initiative founded in 2012. Participants include: The chocolate industry and retailers, the German Federal Government, civil society organisations, as well as standards organizations such as Fairtrade and the Rainforest Alliance.
A key project is PRO-PLANTEURS, a collaboration between the Forum, the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and the Côte d’Ivoire’s Coffee-Cacao Council. The program supports more than 30,000 cocoa families in the Abengourou, Aboisso, Agboville, Yamoussoukro, and Divo regions, including through training, organisational development, and income-generating measures.
