Touton reveals latest cocoa sustainability report timed for ECA meeting

French-based cocoa group, Touton has released its latest annual sustainability report covering its progress made during the 2024-25 season, reports Neill Barston.

As the business noted, its release has been timed to coincide with this week’s European Cocoa Association event taking place in Malta, which will place the future of the sector firmly in the spotlight.

As the business noted, its latest analysis of its delivery on sustainability reflects its  commitment to building resilient and responsible cocoa, coffee, and ingredients supply chains, even amid historic market volatility.

Moreover, as the company observed, last year again marked by severe disruptions across tropical commodities. Cocoa faced structural production deficits, historically low stock levels, and extreme price swings, while coffee
experienced a fourth consecutive year of global deficit (7.5 million bags), with Arabica and Robusta prices reaching record highs under the combined impact of climate change and EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) anticipation.

Furthermore, the company noted that ingredients markets remained volatile, with vanilla prices low and cloves fluctuating between shortage and oversupply.

Through this turbulence, Touton teams stayed the course, leveraging market research, trading expertise, operational agility, and local presence to secure supplies and honour

Patrick de Boussac, CEO of the Touton group, said: “This report reflects both the turbulence we faced and the collective intelligence that drives
Touton forward. In times of volatility, our financial solidity, sustainability commitment, and trustbased partnerships have enabled us to keep our promises. We remain determined to transform supply chains into engines of resilience and growth.”

Beyond market management, 2024–2025 was a year of strategic reinforcement across operations:  Financial robustness – Secured liquidity through diversified financing sources, partnering with over 50 financial institutions, including investment funds, across Europe and producing countries.

Notably, the business also claimed there had been tangible progress against scaling up agroforestry programmes with its PACT standard of responsible sourcing. This started with a pilot project in Ghana to wider, and is now being rolled-out to Uganda, Tanzania, and Madagascar, covering cocoa, coffee, and vanilla.

In terms of its climate strategy, the group said it is conducting its 2nd global carbon footprint assessment and advancing toward its 2035 SBTi GHG emissions reductions targets based 16 on action levers, from regenerative agriculture to low-carbon freight and Life Cycle Assessments of
its factories.

In terms of compliance with upcoming EUDR regulations, the company confirmed that it had now mapped and worked with a total of 250,000 plantations  in preparation for the landmark environmental laws that are anticipated to have a major impact on the sector.

In addition, the company added that it had extended child labour risk monitoring to over 138,000 producers across four major sourcing countries. Local protection committees and young “agri-preneurs” in Ghana
combine farm services with child protection awareness, addressing risks through both sensitisation and community action.