Cargill moves to enhance sustainability measures in its cocoa production chains

A major move has been delivered by Cargill, centred on transforming its global cocoa supply chain, through a series of core investments reducing carbon emissions, cutting waste and optimising production methods in Ghana and Ivory Coast, writes Neill Barston.

While key challenges impacting the sector have persisted including adverse weather conditions in West Africa impacting crops, key spikes in cocoa prices, and an ageing workforce across the industry, the business has asserted gains in its efforts to support producing nations.

As the company confirmed, its central objective revolved around meeting a pre-stated goal of achieving 10% emissions across its global operations during 2025.

Significantly, the business noted that one of its major goals is in seeking to enhance efficiency from cocoa origin countries in West Africa to processing hubs in Europe. Among its measures are renewable energy investment, circular logistics, and smart infrastructure.

A Cargill processing facility in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Pic: Cargill

Being a major operator in cocoa processing and supply chain management, it has targeted playing a leading role in shaping resilient supply chains and food systems, though has acknowledged that its work remains an ongoing process of seeking environmental performance gains.

Emiel van Dijk, Cargill’s Managing Director of Cocoa & Chocolate Europe and West Africa, welcomed the company’s latest drive to forge tangible sustainability gains.

He said: “Sustainability isn’t a single project at Cargill—it’s how we operate. From circular waste reuse to renewable transport and clean energy, we’re showing that climate action can scale, without compromise.

This is what sustainability at scale looks like,” added van Dijk. “It’s measurable, circular, and designed to serve both people and the planet.”

As the company noted, in Ivory Coast, cocoa shells once discarded, are now used to fuel biomass boilers, and as previously reported by our title, in neighbouring Ghana, a solar plant powers production in Tema, and new ISO tanks are replacing disposable packaging, providing the opportunity to cut up to 100 metric tons of waste each month.

Moreover, as the business observed, once the beans and semi-finished cocoa products produced in origin arrive in Europe, they enter a fully integrated logistics network.

Beans are stored in solar-powered warehouses near Amsterdam, The Netherlands, then transported to Cargill’s factory in Zaandam via the world’s first fully electric barges—eliminating 190,000 kg of CO₂ emissions annually. The electricity for these vessels, and for Cargill’s Dutch facilities, comes from Windpark Hanze, a renewable energy partnership with Vattenfall.

After processing, cocoa shells are reused again—this time as fuel in Cargill’s new biomass boiler in Amsterdam, which will cut greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 19,000 tons each year. Together with the wind farm Cargill and Vattenfall operate in partnership with Windpark Hanze, the CO₂ emissions reduction reaches more than 31,000 tons per year – representing a reduction of site CO₂ emissions of up to 90%.

The final leg of the journey continues with low-emission transport. Semi-finished cocoa products are shipped to Wormer—home to the world’s largest cocoa processing site—using BIO LNG trucks, and finished cocoa powder is stored at a next-generation warehouse in Zaandam. Operated in partnership with Green Valley Cocoa Logistics, the facility features solar panels, automated vehicles, and intermodal rail and barge connections to reduce last-mile impact.

In addition, Cargill’s semi-finished cocoa products are delivered to its own chocolate processing sites and its customers across Europe using renewable fuels and short sea shipping, supporting the company’s global target to reduce supply chain emissions by 30% per ton of product by 2030.