Women in Cocoa & Chocolate Network unveil plans for Mentor Academy launching at Chocoa

A major opportunity for women working in the cocoa sector to gain key advice and guidance from senior professionals is set to be launched as part of the Chocoa event in Amsterdam next week, writes Neill Barston.

The Women in Cocoa & Chocolate Network (WINCC), has unveiled plans for its Mentor Academy, which aims to provide leadership development designed to support, retain, and advance female careers across the industry, including at strategic company board level.

As WINCC noted, the venture’s creation come as the cocoa sector navigates intensifying market volatility, climate impacts, and new due diligence regulation. Yet an equally important dimension is often overlooked: the human capital required to deliver and sustain the transition to more resilience while enhancing innovation and profitability.

Significantly, the mentorship scheme has recruited major names from the cocoa sector to be part of the initiative – including Kate Clancy, formerly of Cargill,  Cedric Van Cutsem, of Mondelez, Antonie Fountain of the Voice Network, and Beatrice Moulianitaki, who had previously worked for Hershey and is a founder of the the WINCC group. 

Furthermore, the organisation, which was started a decade ago, noted, women contribute significantly across producing and consuming countries— yet remain under-represented in decision-making, in certain functional areas (sourcing for instance) and face mid-career barriers such as limited sponsorship, opaque progression pathways, and health-related attrition. When experienced women exit, the sector suffers value destruction in the form of lost knowledge, relationships, and execution capacity.

Research shows these barriers coincide with the stage when women’s expertise is most needed for innovation, systems thinking, and resilience – 
– Around 80% of female employees over 40 years old, report work-impacting
issues now addressed by the EU Pay Transparency Directive (effective June 2026), mandating salary transparency and corrective action for unjustified pay gaps.

In addition, as WINCC noted, sustaining women’s talent is not only equitable but strategically necessary for resilient and sustainable cocoa supply chains — hence the call to action by WINCC and the launch of its Mentor Academy for ensuring More Women in the mix where decisions are made.

“Gender inequality in leadership is not just unfair, it is inefficient,” says Beatrice Moulianitaki, Founder and Chair of WINCC.

“At a time when the cocoa sector is under pressure from all sides, we cannot afford to lose talented and experienced professionals because systems fail to support them.”

• The mentorship is launching at Chocoa on 17 February 2026, between 7-9pm (tickets €35). To register for the event and for further information, visit:  www.wincc.info/mentor-academy