cocoa
barometer
2015
Trader/Grinder $ 62.000.000

Manufacturer $ 375.000.000
Manufacturer $ 173.000.000

Trader/Grinder $ 62.000.000

Manufacturer $ 390.000.000
anufacturer $ 338.000.000

Trader/Grinder $ 173.000.000
Trader/Grinder $ 133.000.000
Trader/Grinder $ 85.000.000
Manufacturer $ 86.000.000

Trader/Grinder $ 310.000.000
Manufacturer $ 104.000.000

Trader/Grinder $ 155.000.000$ 0,50/ dayCÔte d’Ivoire$ 0,84 / day
Ghana

Estimated annual profits of companies / Farmer income a day

Trader/Grinder$ 139.000.000

looking
for a living
incomeTrader/Grinder $ 62.000.000

Manufacturer $ 375.000.000
Manufacturer $ 173.000.000

Trader/Grinder $ 62.000.000

Manufacturer $ 390.000.000
Manufacturer $ 338.000.000

Trader/Grinder $ 173.000.000
Trader/Grinder $ 133.000.000
Trader/Grinder $ 85.000.000
Manufacturer $ 86.000.000

Trader/Grinder $ 310.000.000
Manufacturer $ 104.000.000

Trader/Grinder $ 155.000.000> $ 2,00/ day

Contents
1. Introduction 3
2. Challenges 5
3. Sector Developments 9
4. Certified Cocoa Production 19
5. Value Distribution 29
6. Living Income for Smallholder Cocoa Farmers 39
7. Conclusions and Key Recommendations 46
Justification 48
Colophon 49

Estimated annual profits of companies / Farmer income a day

Trader/Grinder$ 139.000.000

1. Introduction
2

In the last months of 2014 a media scare shocked the world’s
chocolate lovers, of which there are quite a few; within a few
years, there might not be enough cocoa to make one of theworlds most loved and affordable luxury products. Newspaper
articles, radio broadcasts and television programs, they were
all asking the same question; “Is the world running out of
chocolate?”
Probably not. But the world is running out of cocoa farmers.

Supply chain

smallholder

beans

trader / grinder

powder liquor butter

manufacturer

retailchocolate products

consumer

Younger generations no longer want to be in cocoa. Older
generations are reaching their life expectancy. Poverty is
rampant in West Africa’s cocoa fields. And with it come manyother social, environmental and economic problems. Cocoa
farmers are not receiving a living income, and the value chain issqueezed beyond levels of sustainability. The voice of farmers
is often not heard, their interests too often not taken into
consideration.
There is a huge demand for cocoa worldwide, yet it can only
be grown in a very small tropical belt. One would think cocoa
farmers are in an excellent position to negotiate a good priceso that they can make a living income from their cocoa yield.
Strangely enough, the reality is different.
The global cocoa sector is in crisis, and ‘business as usual’ is notgoing to solve it. If cocoa farming is to have a future, particularly
in West Africa, other solutions are needed.

Scope and intentions of the Cocoa Barometer 2015

The Cocoa Barometer 2015 provides an overview of the current
sustainability developments in the cocoa sector, and highlights
critical issues that are not receiving sufficient attention at present.
It is an endeavour to stimulate and enable stakeholders tocommunicate and discuss these critical issues. The authors havechosen to focus on West Africa, because of its dominance incocoa production and the significant challenges it faces. The
two special thematic focus points of this Barometer are “ValueDistribution in the Cocoa Supply Chain” and “Living Income for
Smallholder Farmers”.

The past years have seen an increase in sector-wide approaches
in sustainability. First steps are being made, but they are only
the beginning. Farmers are almost universally underrepresented
in these efforts.
The role of governments (both on a national as well as – inthe case of the EU – regional level) in ensuring that market
concentration does not reach undesirable levels is becoming
increasingly important. However, few mergers seem to beeffectively blocked by regulation. Surely, further market
concentration will not benefit the future sustainability of cocoa.
In the 2012 Cocoa Barometer we incorporated an image on3

current income of cocoa farmers. This image, and its underlying
message, has created significant response. As a result, thisBarometer focuses on the financial aspects of the cocoa supply
chain. Previous Cocoa Barometers have looked at issues such as‘Beyond Certification’ and ‘Beyond Productivity’. This Barometer
looks at the themes “Value Distribution” and “Living Income for
Smallholders”.

45

How can farmers actually earn a decent livelihood, what would
this livelihood look like, and where is the money going now?
These two sections of the 2015 Cocoa Barometer build on two
Consultation Papers that were released in the summer of 2014.
The authors wish to thank all of the many professionals in the
sector that provided feedback to these Consultation Papers.

2. Challenges

Production / Consumption

1.812
287

775

165
Rest of
Asia

EuropeUS

Africa146

319

Rest of
Americas

45

70

Japan

China

Farmsize

India

BrasilIncome

198

1.741
CdI

258 228 210

897

Ghana

547

Rest of
Africa405

Indonesia

79

Rest of Asia

Rest Brasil Ecuador

72

Marketconcentration

Australia

Organisation of Farmers

6

Poverty
Most cocoa farmers live in destitute poverty. There are various
reasons for this; low and fluctuating cocoa prices, lack offarmer organisation and market power, the small size of farms,
uncertainty of land tenure, sharecropping, low productivity, lackof infrastructure and access to market and market information.
This poverty is a driving cause for many related problems,
including poor working conditions, (worst forms of) child labour
and trafficking, illiteracy and malnutrition. It is therefore no
surprise that younger generations are leaving cocoa farming
all together; at present cocoa simply does not provide thepossibility of a living income for farmers and their families.
Productivity
Sustainability projects at present focus mostly on increasing
farm productivity. This could increase the dependency offarmers on cocoa and additionally lead to an oversupply
of cocoa and to decreasing prices. It is at present unclear
whether investing in higher productivity – leading to additional
production costs for inputs and hired labour – is a functioning
business model leading to higher net farm income.
Market concentration
There is an increasing concentration in the global cocoa supply
chain. Both on vertical (between different segments) as well as
on horizontal (within the same ‘link’ of the chain) levels manyof the cocoa and chocolate companies have seen mergers andtakeovers by competitors. Two processors (Barry Callebaut andMarket concentration
Amount of players / marketshare
2 Couverture Processors / marketshare 70-80%

8 Traders & grinders

6 Manufacturers 40%

60-80%

Barry
Armajaro Ecom

Ecom

Olam

Olam

ADM

CargillCargill

Petra Callebaut Kraft

Barry
CallebautCadbury

7
Mondelēz

Cargill after its merger with ADM) will produce about 70-80% of
the world’s couverture. Only eight traders and grinders control
approximately three quarters of the worldwide cocoa trade. The
market power of the six biggest chocolate companies is aroundforty per cent. This concentration further weakens the positionof farmers; this market asymmetry is in favour of the buyers andtraders. At the same time, most if not all major industry players
claim that the ‘market’ and cocoa price setting mechanisms arebeyond their sphere of influence..

Unorganised farmers
Most cocoa growing communities lack basic infrastructuresuch as roads, education, health care, farmer organisation, andsupport structures to aid farmers in their efforts for sustainablecocoa production. Even when present, projects often only
reach already organised farmers. These ‘low hanging fruits’
are now mostly part of multiple company projects or standard
setting bodies. Real solutions to engage unorganised farmers
remain largely absent, while they are affected the most by thechallenges described in this chapter.

Sharing lessons learned

Many companies don’t publish internal reviews and evaluations, partly because theyexperience that their projects still have many problems including poverty, gender
discrimination and the worst forms of child labour. A regularly shared concern isthat publication of negative outcomes will lead to criticism by non-governmentalorganisations and headlines in the press like “Child labour still widespread in the
projects of company XX”. However without exchanging best and worst practices,a lot of time and money is wasted in approaches that have already produced
insufficient – and sometimes counterproductive – results in other projects. Therefore,
Nestlé’s publications of evaluations and corrective actions, through their partnershipwith the Fair Labour Association, are a major step forward, albeit only covering asmall part of their cocoa supply chain. Other actors are encouraged to follow thislead.

Experiences in coffee, tea, and cotton demonstrate that
supporting farmers to establish and control organisations orcooperatives requires a step-by-step approach. This needs tobe combined with well-designed training, and an active role ofgovernments (IFC 2013; IFC 2014). A common and pre-competitive
approach on cooperative mechanisms, including sharedlearning, is a necessary ingredient for this vast challenge. The
publication of best practices and cross-commodity learning
on how to reach the unorganised farmers is urgently needed,
including costs and lessons learned.

8

3. Sector Developments

Issues for Smallholders
Economic• Low income forfarmers (living income,diversification of crops
on income, rising costsof living as well as ofagricultural inputs, taxes,
price volatility, andspeculation)• Land tenure• Position of sharecroppers• Hired labour costs• Limited access to markets(credit, market information,
investment risks)• Farming practices (farmer
training, yields, low quality
cocoa beans)• Insufficient infrastructure(roads, hospitals, schools,
taxes, transport costs

Social• Human rights violations(child labour, forced labour,
trafficking)• Food security and nutrition• Working conditions (use ofpesticides and fertilisers,
polluted water, harassment,
abuse, discrimination)• Gender inequality• Illiteracy and education• Freedom of association,collective bargaining, andfarmer organisation• Ageing farmer communities• Access to social security(health insurance, pension
schemes)• Power relations (corruption,
tax evasion trade mispricing,
political instability,
smallholder famers versus
multinational companies)

Environmental• Ageing and diseased
cocoa trees• Monoculture• Deforestation, decreasing
biodiversity and soil
degradation; expansion of
the cocoa frontier to thedetriment of rainforest• Lack of knowledge on
climate change and theconsequences for cocoa• Insufficient climate change
adaptation and mitigation
policies• Environmental impactof use and sourcing of
fertilisers and pesticides

Governments

Civil Society

IndustryStandards

Farmers9

Global Cocoa Agenda
In 2012, the first World Cocoa Conference (WCC) was held in
Abidjan. After long negotiations leading up to and during theconference, the Global Cocoa Agenda (GCA) was presented.
Signatories to the Agenda now include most of the major
cocoa consuming and producing nations, as well as many
relevant industry and civil society actors. The GCA outlines roles,
responsibilities and actions for all major stakeholder groups
involved in a sustainable cocoa sector; producing governments,
consuming governments, industry actors, civil society, andfarmers. It is far from perfect, but the Global Cocoa Agenda andits annexes are the most comprehensive attempt up till now at
defining what a ‘shared responsibility’ for sustainable cocoa
production could look like.

10

The second WCC, held in Amsterdam in 2014, was going tobe the first instance that significant reporting on the progressof the GCA would take place. However, at this time a decent
monitoring framework was not in place, resulting in a wide
variety of reporting formats. As such, it is not possible to paint aclear picture of progress achieved to date. In order to properly
monitor the GCA, the Consultative Board of the International
Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) was expanded to include civilsociety organisations and other relevant actors. A framework
for monitoring will be presented to the ICCO in the spring of
2015, which should make it possible to measure the progress ofvarious actors.

Infrastructure

A concerted series of investments in infrastructure in cocoa growing communities(such as improved roads, electricity, education, health care, and strengtheningof local governance) is long overdue. Coupled to this, there is a strong need forincreased transparency in taxes received from cocoa, as well as the reinvestmentin the actual cocoa production or in infrastructure. Though some efforts are being
made, such as the FIMR (Investment fund in Rural Areas) and the setting of thebarème cost structure (both in Côte d’Ivoire) much more is needed. Part of thesame equation is the lack of a thriving service sector with delivery structures
reaching out to farmers to support them in their efforts of yield improvement,
quality improvement, certification and in general: sustainable cocoa production.

Role of governments
The debate about the role of governments in sustainable cocoa
is intensifying. Governments of producing countries shouldplay a pivotal role to improve the situation of farmers. They
should be transparent in taxes received on cocoa, and invest
a significant part of this income in rural technical and social
infrastructure (including roads, electricity, education, water andsanitation, and health care) or other indispensable public goods
cocoa farmers rely on. They should regulate the activities ofcompanies in their country and facilitate development aid andcivil society actors.
The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights(UNGP) clearly sets forth that is the state’s duty to protect
against human rights abuses. As such, it the role of producing
governments to ensure the social, environmental, and economic
wellbeing of farmers, their families, and the cocoa growing
communities.
With their anti-trust policies, governments in consuming
countries should be firm on power concentration in processing
facilities under their jurisdiction. Additionally, they should
support producing governments or facilitating organisations
with expertise.

Developments in producing countries

As a result of the first World Cocoa Conference and the Global
Cocoa Agenda, most producer governments are setting up
National Cocoa Development Plans (NCDP). The approachesof these NCDP’s differ, depending on the situation in the
country. Ecuador has announced it wants to pass legislation
guaranteeing sustainable cocoa production, with a state-run
agency controlling enforcement, and subsequently to discard
the programmes run by the different foreign stakeholders.
Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Indonesia are also planning new
regulations.
The two biggest producing countries are regulating theirnational cocoa markets through National Marketing Boards, theCocobod in Ghana and the Conseil du Café-Cacao (CCC) in
Côte d’Ivoire.

Recommendation:
Ensure transparency ingovernment revenue
received on cocoa.
Recommendation:
Invest adequately inrural infrastructure andservices.
Recommendation:
Be transparent
about payments
to governments
and national cocoa
institutions.
Recommendation:
Ensure that market
concentration does notreach market-distortinglevels.

11

12

Ghana
In recent years the Cocobod has had trouble continuing
their support to the farmers. One of the reasons for this is thedepreciation of the Ghanaian cedi. While the price for many
inputs and consumer goods was rising, the farmers’ shareof the world market price decreased significantly during theharvesting season 2013/14. As a consequence many farmers
and traders smuggled cocoa to Côte d’Ivoire. The Cocobod
reacted with a sharp rise in farm gate prices for the 2014/15
harvesting season from 3.392 cedis to 5.520 cedis per tonne($1.630)1. Additionally the Cocobod promised to continue tosupport farmers through seedlings and subsidised inputs, a
programme that had to be partly stopped the previous year due
to financial issues. However, these subsidised inputs were often
only available for bigger and better accessible farms.
Côte d’Ivoire
The CCC is also continuing its programmes to improve
the situation of farmers. For the new harvesting season theminimum price was raised from 750 CFA francs to 850 CFA
francs per kilo ($1.487 per tonne)2. The Ivorian government
reorganised the regulations for the cocoa sector and istrying to get more grip on the projects of the companies andNGOs, and has also carried out a reform of the cooperative
system. Additionally they changed their auction and forward
selling system. This led to critique from industry actors who
were confronted with diminishing profits (Aboa 2014). These
reforms combined with higher world market prices have leadto an increase of 40 % of the farm gate prices according tomarket experts. Farmers invested more time and inputs intheir plantations. The higher income combined with the many
programmes in the country formed the basis for the record
harvest of the season 2013/14. The 2QC programme (Quantité,
Qualité, Croissance, or quantity, quality and growth) is anattempt by the Ivorian government to set up a national cocoa
policy, in line with the Global Cocoa Agenda.

Recommendation:
Foster independent farmerorganisations.
1. USD-GHS
Conversion date
3 Feb 2015
2. USD-XOF
Conversion date
3 Feb 2015

Though concerns exist on the level of farmer representation inthis process, the initial steps seem encouraging. In fact, it seems
that the Ivorian government is starting to tackle the challenges
facing its cocoa economy.

Child labour and trafficking

In the past years, both Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire have made steps forward in
the fight to combat child labour and child trafficking, approaching the issue
through a regional angle, collaborating with civil society and trade unions. The
scope of the challenge, however, is still larger than the current efforts, but atthe very least the issue seems to be more open for discussion at the level ofpolicy makers. Simultaneously, the ability to discuss the issue at community
level seems to have become problematic. A major reason for this is confusion
between (the worst forms of) child labour – forbidden in both countries - andchild work. The latter is the case when children occasional help out on thefarm as long as this work does not get in the way of the child’s education anddevelopment. Additionally, the current focus on yield increase in many cocoa
programs entails an increased need for labour to harvest this added yield.
Without specific interventions, this could lead to more child labour and childtrafficking.

Developments in consuming countries

Over the last decade, consumer awareness of issues
surrounding sustainable cocoa production has increased.
Fuelled by numerous campaigns, particularly focused on childlabour and trafficking, media and public awareness is now amajor driving force behind the move to (higher) standards andcertification in the chocolate industry. At the same time, suchcampaigns can run the risk of overly simplifying some of theunderlying reasons driving child labour and trafficking, such as
poverty and lack of infrastructure. Solutions to these issues will
require multi-facetted approaches.
Voluntary corporate social responsibility initiatives bycompanies alone cannot prevent human rights violations andenvironmental degradation. Some of the core challenges in thesustainable cocoa production will require legislation both atnational and at regional levels (such as the EU). The goal of such
legislation should be to ensure that corporations headquarteredin those countries are compelled to respect human rights andthe environment worldwide, not only in the company, but also
for the whole supply chain. This would entail the constructionsof a human rights due diligence process to identify, prevent,mitigate and account for how they address impacts on humanrights. Due diligence in this context includes a risk assessment,
measures to prevent and eliminate possible human rights
violations and environmental damage, as well as comprehensive
reporting on the policies in place and actions taken.

Recommendation:
Introduce mandatory
human rights due
diligence processes forcorporations

13

14

Another key element to take into account is policy coherencein consuming nations’ foreign, development and trade policy. It
is not logical to invest via cooperation for development, while
trade, as a lever for development, is made difficult through tradebarriers.

EuropeEuropean countries are following different paths towards
sustainable cocoa. The multi-stakeholder forum in the
Netherlands, which started in 2010, is still working towards
100% sustainable cocoa consumption in the country by 2025.
In 2014 about a quarter of all chocolate was sold as sustainably
certified to the consumer. A first monitoring of this commitment
has recently been released, and it seems that most actors areon track to reach this goal. The German Initiative on Sustainable
Cocoa (GISCO) is comprised of stakeholders ranging fromcivil society, industry and unions to government ministries.
Through this initiative, Germany has committed to at least 50%
of certified cocoa consumption by 2020. Additionally, GISCO
is stimulating the debate about best practices through expert
meetings, dialogue with the Ivorian government, a project totrain farmers in Côte d’Ivoire, and supporting the Certification
Curriculum Enhancement (CCE) process.
In other countries, such as Belgium and Switzerland, the debate
about the creation of similar multi-stakeholder initiatives is lessdeveloped. And there is still no significant public debate on
steps forward in many other countries in Europe such as theUnited Kingdom, France, and Italy.
National platforms have proved to be a valuable instrument tostimulate the dialogue between the different stakeholders along
the value chain. However, the chocolate industry comprisesof many players of global and regional scope. Therefore astronger focus on multi-stakeholder dialogues on a European
level could be a major step forward. Organised in a transparent
and efficient way, such a European initiative could facilitate theexchange of the experiences of the national platforms.

USA
Turn-of-century legislative processes in the United Statescatalysed the global dialogue on sustainable cocoa, specificallyon child labour-related issues. At present, the only real action
from the American government seems to be the Child Labour
Cocoa Coordination Group (CLCCG), an initiative of the
Department of Labor, working with the Ivorian and Ghanaian

governments. The CLCCG is making steps, but transparency
and reporting on its activities are largely absent, so monitoringon progress is lacking.
15

Land Tenure

There is a direct responsibility of cocoa growing nations to address the issue ofland tenure, particularly with regards to women and minorities. Land-ownershipis often a precondition for membership in official farmer organisations and forparticipation in training activities. Land is also necessary to apply for bank credit
and for crop diversification
Over the past decades, the size of cocoa farms has decreased, raising thequestion whether there is a size below which cocoa farming is no longer
economically viable. More research on this is needed. At the same time, many
farmers have unsure tenancy rights on the land. To some extent, this is due to theincrease in sharecroppers and subtenants on the cocoa plots. Subsequently there
is an increasing group of large-scale landowners that do not directly cultivate
cocoa themselves.
Additionally, in Côte d’Ivoire, land tenure is directly linked with the issue ofnationality. Only nationals are allowed to own land. As such, many cocoa farmers
do not have the right to own the land they till, even if their families have beenin the country for generations. This creates all sorts of complexities, including
obstructions to obtaining credits necessary for improving productivity, as well as
the possibility of crop diversification.
Due to small farm sizes, most small cocoa farms probably cannot sufficiently
support the households dependent on it. In addressing land tenure issues,
it would be a good thing if general farm size could be increased to a sizethat ensures its economic viability. This should not go at the expense of themarginalised, however. So a solid policy is needed to ensure a just land reformand redistribution system, including an exit strategy and social services for thoseaffected by the reforms, irrespective of gender, ethnicity or other factors.

Industry initiatives

Due to a lack of independent third-party evaluations, it is still notpossible to properly assess the impact of individual company
initiatives. Most companies report progress in their annual
reports, but these are usually ‘success stories’, and true lessons
learned and/or challenges the companies face are still mostly
lacking.

16
Recommendation:
Redistribute internal costs
towards more sustainableprocurement

As is demonstrated in other parts of this Barometer, poverty,
child labour, trafficking, dismal working conditions and otherchallenges are still rife in the cocoa sector. It seems thatcollective industry initiatives still do not have the major impact inproducing countries that is necessary for a true transformationin the cocoa sector.

CocoaAction
In an attempt to improve pre-competitive collaboration, theWorld Cocoa Foundation (WCF) has launched CocoaAction.
This collaborative strategy of eleven of the largest chocolate
and cocoa companies in the world has set as its target to train

approximately 300.000 farmers by the end of the decade.
CocoaAction will focus on two core elements; increasing
productivity of cocoa farms, and improving the situation of
women and children in cocoa.
The Cocoa Barometers have been urging for more precompetitive collaboration for several years now, and as such
CocoaAction is a welcome development. At the same time,
the amount of farmers that the plan is aiming to reach is justa fraction of all of the cocoa farmers in West Africa, many ofwhom are already being reached through current CocoaAction
members in their own programmes. Considering that the core
drivers of CocoaAction constitute a vast majority of the world’s
chocolate market, its ambitions should be commensurate to themarket power of its members.
Additionally, the twin focus on productivity and ‘women andchildren’, good in and of itself, will not sufficiently alleviatecocoa farmer poverty. The members of CocoaAction and other
WCF members are particularly suited to bring their influence tothe table on issues such as land tenure, price mechanisms, andcrop diversification.
A last point of concern is that other actors, such as governments,
civil society, and smaller chocolate companies are joining in
the process late in the game. Also on governance, a multistakeholder approach would be much more advisable.

Gender and poverty

Cocoa is produced largely in traditionally structured societies, where womenexperience great difficulty to obtain legal land titles; even when their husband
dies and they would run the farm themselves. Without land titles, they are often
excluded from saving and credit systems, as well as from access to training andcertification schemes. But women increasingly run cocoa farms. This is largely
the result of the age differences between husbands and wives (leading to a highnumber of widows), HIV/aids, social conflicts and male rural-urban migration. Still,
women are less addressed for interventions, are less involved in decision-making
processes, are less informed about market developments and effective ways offarm management and have even less opportunity to invest in their farms thanmen. Women who assist their husbands on their farm are not regarded as cocoa
farmers (but rather as the spouse of a cocoa farmer). Consequently, most of these
women are not participating in farmer group meetings.

International Cocoa Initiative
Over the past years, the ICI has seen a thorough revision of its
scope, activities, and most of its staff. The ICI seems to haveceased to be the scapegoat of industry when faced with criticalpress, and has now picked up one of its original objectives; tobe a clearinghouse for best practices in the elimination of childlabour, by running a series of programmes in Côte d’Ivoire andGhana. It has narrowed and more clearly defined its scope,and has started to more publicly consult and communicate on
its activities. At the same time, it would be good for the ICI toexpand its membership to truly reflect its ambitions to be amulti-stakeholder platform.
IDH (Sustainable Trade Initiative)
The last years have seen a broadening of the scope of thismatch-funding development agency, cooperating with otherconsuming nations, such as SECO in Switzerland. IDH couples
industry, government and development agencies on project-

17

18

based initiatives to improve the sustainability within the cocoa
production. Though funding is significant, and IDH’s attribution
claims are commensurate, evaluations of IDH are critical of theproven impact of the programmes. Additionally, most of theefforts within IDH seem to be largely focused on solving thelong-term supply challenges of companies own supply chainsthrough increasing productivity. True improvement of income
for farmers and of environmental conditions is lagging behind.
In a recent evaluation, concern was raised that farmers that enter
these programs enter a ‘more or less exclusive relationship’with cocoa traders. As such, ‘public funding intervenes in themarket structure and may restrict competition’ IOB review page
19. The evaluation also recommended IDH would work moreon pre-competitive collaboration. Additionally, the strong andunquestioning focus of the IDH on the use of agrochemicals
is cause for concern. In general, further research into this topic
would be strongly welcomed.

Civil Society initiatives
Collaboration is not only confined to industry actors. Over thelast years, civil society has increasingly started to come together,
especially in Europe. The Barometer Consortium has continued
its publications of Cocoa Barometers and Think Pieces. Various
individual NGO’s and networks have run campaigns, such as
Solidaridad’s “For the Love of Chocolate”, Oxfam’s “Behind theBrands”, Make Chocolate Fair’s campaign for certified cocoa,
Berne Declaration’s campaigns on human rights in cocoa, andStop The Traffik’s campaigns on child labour and trafficking.
The VOICE Network has collectively engaged in advocacy, as
well as information sharing to farmers and civil society fromthe Global South. At the same time many individual NGO’s
implement programs in producing nations, or engage inadvocacy work. Cocoa farmers are in the first stages of regional
and international cooperation, with the launching of various
networks of cocoa farmer organisations.

4. Certified
Cocoa Production

19

UTZ Certified
5

2009

43

214

2011

297

691

2013

355

2016

Rainforest Alliance
2009

13
65

98

2011

279

2013
2016

571
800

Fairtrade
65
46
60

2009

124

2011

176

not provided

2012 / 20132016

Sold Produced

20
Recommendation:
Commit to 100%
sustainable
independently verified
cocoa purchasing.

There are various reasons for companies to move to certificationof supply chains; supply security, demand from consumers,
improvement of brand reputation, credibility of claims,
transparency of (a part of) the supply chain, cost reduction insustainability processes, to name some of the most common.

Components
There are several major components to certification. The firstcomponent is that Standard Bodies set a standard for cocoa,
outlining requirements for sustainable cocoa production. The
second is that auditing organisations conduct an audit to certifythat the requirements of the standard are met. The third is thatcocoa companies purchase the certified cocoa. The fourthcomponent is the marketing body, liaised to the Standard Body,
who promotes the label. In the critique on certification, thesecomponents are often mistakenly used interchangeably, or seen
as a single issue. This regularly leads to a lack of clarity within
the discussion. The result is that responsibility for and critiqueof failures within the system is often attributed wrongly, usually
aimed only at the Standard Bodies.
Shared responsibility
It is important to note that certification is not the same assustainability; it is merely a subset of a broader approach. It canbe an important tool to support a sustainable cocoa business,but will only cover part of the obvious problems, and only
works well when all of the abovementioned components andactors take their responsibility. The impact of standards andcertification is limited if it is not combined with a more holistic
approach. Furthermore, the broader concept of sustainability
is a shared responsibility of all stakeholders, including industry
and producing governments, not just the standards bodies.

Challenges

The introduction of certification can lead to better social andenvironmental conditions on the farms. Nonetheless, a rangeof problems remains in certification; growing discontent
with premiums and pricing, credibility of auditing, impactof certification, and the level and functioning of farmerorganisations. Additionally, most standards struggle to reflect
the reality of scattered smallholder cocoa farming; most of
their requirements are written with larger plantations in mind.
Partly, as a result of these deficiencies, although standards andcertification can help a farmer in the short term, up till now
the standards seem not to be succeeding in the long-term
challenge of significantly improving the economic situationof cocoa farmers. Moreover, there are many aspects thatstandard-setting organisations have little or no influence on.
These include access to training and demonstrations, land use
and tenure conflicts, effects of climate change, lack of local
infrastructure, volatility of world market prices, lack of accessto credit and savings opportunities, availability of agricultural
inputs and crop diversification. All these aspects are of vital
importance to the development of the livelihoods of cocoa
farmers.
Challenges: Premiums
Premiums for certified cocoa are an important farmer incentive
to invest in improved agricultural and social standards. At thesame time farmers often can only sell part of their cocoa as
certified, thereby not getting the revenue they expected. Evenif farmers receive higher revenue because of more and bettercocoa, a sense of disappointment in certification can prevail.
This is often blamed on the Standard Bodies, but is primarily the
responsibility of the purchasing companies.
This failure to meet the expectation of premiums payment
means that other benefits of working with certification, such as
training leading to higher yields and better quality, are often not
acknowledged. Even if all the cocoa is purchased as certified,there can still be a lack of clarity on the height of the premium.
Both UTZ and Rainforest do not have a fixed premium; it is up
to the cooperative to negotiate a decent premium with thebuyer. This premium can be lower than expected. Fairtrade does
have a fixed premium price, as well as a minimum price underwhich Fairtrade certified cocoa cannot be sold. This minimum
price has been well below the current world market price forseveral years, while Fairtrade certified cocoa farmers still largely
do not escape poverty. This leads to the question whether theminimum price is actually set at the right level.
Though important as an incentive, the premium on its own
does not seem to have a great impact on the actual incomeof farmers. Presently, the farmers usually receive a premiumof US$150-US$200 per tonne of certified cocoa, meaning an
additional 10% of revenue. However, the costs for certification
have to be subtracted from this premium. These costs apply
to all of the farmer’s cocoa production, regardless of whether
he can sell his whole crop as certified. The costs of certification
further increase if the farmer is double or triple certified. As
such, the net financial benefit of premiums is unclear at best.

21

Recommendation:
Develop and integrate abasic business model ofliving income in every
standard.

22
Recommendation:
Put in place systems to
reduce corruption andinefficiencies in auditing.

Recommendation:
Make impact studies fully
available, especially on
lessons learned, not justsuccesses.

Challenges: Auditing
Independent auditing organisations visit farms and cooperatives
to certify and verify that the requirements of the standards
are being met. As such, the reliability of audits is an essential
element in the debate about the impact of certification.
Experiences in cocoa and in other sectors prove that the audit
system is often not capable of detecting all infringements on
the criteria of the standards. One reason for this is that many
control visits on farms are usually announced beforehand. This
is often done to reduce costs: auditors need to go into remoteareas and need to meet the responsible persons, who have to
be available. Another reason is the quality of the auditors andthe knowledge they have of the standards. Lastly, there is little
incentive for auditors to be critical during audits, which can leadto certification being awarded whilst the standards are not met
in reality. Auditing organisations would do well to review theirinternal performance systems, prevent corruption in awardings,
and increase the credibility of their certification processes.

developments are vital to capture reliable results. For example,
in Côte d’Ivoire in 2013, traders were surprised by an impressive
improvement of the quality of cocoa beans. This was mainly
the result of new quality regulations combined with a minimum
price implemented by the Ivorian government, not because of
expensive training programmes of traders.

Currently, neither buyers nor farmers seem to be properly
serviced by auditing. From the farmer‘s perspective, auditing
mainly serves the interests of cocoa buyers. From a buyer’s
perspective, it often doesn’t provide sufficient assurance. If
the purpose of audits is to function as a purchasing control
system, the standard-setting organisations need to spend
more money to make them more efficient and credible. But
if the purpose is to serve the farmers, audits should be more
geared at monitoring how efficient the training facilities, input
providers, governing bodies of cooperatives and state agencies
operate. Both are needed. Also, the data from the audits andevaluations should be available for farmers to give them accessto information about progress and standstills.

ISO/CEN
Since its start in 2011, the European CEN process for an
overarching standard on sustainable cocoa has seen increased
momentum. Producing nations are now increasingly engaging
in this process. They also have an equal place at the tablesince it has joined with the global ISO system. However, it willtake several years before the standard will be fit for use, andthere still are concerns regarding participation and equality ofparticularly cocoa farmers within this process. There is a longprocess of voting to go on the standards, and while elements ofthe draft are promising, it remains important that a truly high bar
will be included in this standard.

Challenges: Impact
There is a need for more and better evaluations on long-term
developments and implications of certification, especially withthe rapid scaling up of the standards systems in cocoa. Theseevaluations will have to demonstrate clearly the positive andnegative socioeconomic and/or environmental impacts of cocoa
production standards on cocoa smallholders. They will needto look beyond randomized controlled trials, so as to allow for
causal connections between developments in producing areas.
Pure data research should be combined with an interpretation
based on reasoned intuition (Basu 2013).
Additionally, crosschecks of data against other importantdevelopments such as market regulations and other political

Challenges: Farmer Organisation
Certification mostly works through cooperatives. However, somecoops have become so large, that democratic representation
is a challenge, as is the level of assurance for compliance tostandards. Other coops are so small that have hardly have any
bargaining power.

Improving Certification

Meanwhile there are efforts to improve certification and to
expand its potential.

Revisions of standards
The three major Standard Bodies – UTZ Certified (UTZ),
Rainforest Alliance/SAN (RA), and Fairtrade International (FT),
set standards using similar – but different – criteria; each has
its own focus areas and ‘theory of change’. These criteria are
regularly updated. UTZ published a new standard in spring
2014, which includes a new community-based child labour
framework. RA is in the final stages of a similar process to revise
its criteria, but the changes have not yet been published. FTlaunched a new standard for hired labour, which entered into
force in mid 2014.

23

Traders & grinders: used cocoa / certified cocoa / commitments
2013

130

2016

no figures shared2021

no figures shared

500 ADM2016

no figures shared2021

no figures shared

500 Cargill
175

2016

200

2021

450 Olam80

2013

no figures shared
100

2013

430 Ecom
200

2016

300

2021

275 Touton

21 27

2016

137

2021

+26

54

2016

105

2021

2013

5

2016

15

150 Continaf
100

2021

200 Blommer

38

2013

+60

140

2016

2013

Commitments to sustainable cocoa sourcing

105

2013

2021

25

50

2013

1000 Barry Callebaut

The tonnage of certified cocoa is still rising but progress is
slowing down after a few years of remarkable growth. At thesame time there continues to be confusion about the actual
available amount of certified cocoa. While some companies
claim that they cannot increase purchases of certified cocoa
due to a lack of supply, farmers indicate that production ofcertified cocoa is far higher than demand. Despite the limitsof standards to solve all sustainability problems in the cocoa
value chain the percentage of certified cocoa and the numberof farmers reached is a reference line for the progress made.
As long as companies’ own projects promote more sustainablecocoa production but do not publish independent third party
evaluation of progress they made there is no other public
indicator of progress available.

Commitments
Most of the major chocolate manufacturers, with the exceptionof Mondelēz and Nestlé, have committed themselves to use
100% sustainable and/or certified cocoa by 2020. The mostprominent of these are Mars, Hershey’s, Lindt & Sprüngli
and Ferrero, all following different strategies in defining
sustainability. Some will use certification of the standard bodies,some are working through their own projects, and others are
combining both approaches.
It is essential for purchaser of certified cocoa to take shared
responsibility, including implementing corrective action plans,
access to training and demonstrations, access to credits, andlong-term supplier relationships.
2013
certified part    & total used cocoai
2016

2021

certified verified

certified verified

figures in 1000 Tonnes

Chocolate producers: used cocoa / certified cocoa / commitments

2016

450 Mondelēz

50 50

2013

2021

430 Nestlé

48

2013

+17
123

2016
2021

no figures shared
117

2013

390 Mars
200

2016

100 %

2021

200 Hersheys

36

2013

120

2016

100 %

2013

120 Ferrero

40

2021

60

2016

100 %

2021

Farmer training
In response to the questionnaire sent out for this Barometer,
we also asked companies to give the number of farmers they
have trained. Adding up these numbers, we calculate about
500.000 farmers trained by the major traders and grinders(excluding ADM, who did not provide figures). The chocolate
manufacturers have trained about 150.000 farmers, according
to their own numbers. Most likely there will be many doubles inthis total of 650.000 farmers (which is about twelve per cent of
the total amount of approximately five and a half million cocoa
farmers). However, if these companies are to achieve their own
commitments to sustainable purchasing, they’d have to train atleast a threefold of this.
Own projects
Additionally, more and more cocoa is coming from ‘own
projects’ and sold as ‘sustainable’, though not certified by oneof the major standard bodies. In the tables in the [previous/
following] pages, this ‘own project sustainable’ cocoa iscoloured a lighter shade of green than the cocoa certified by
the major standards.

50

2016

100 Lindt & Sprüngli

0

2013

Private labels
Besides these major brands, a lot of cocoa is used to produce
chocolate for retailers, which is then sold under private labels.
In Germany for example these retailers have a market shareof 30%. Some, such as Lidl, has required their chocolate
manufacturer to use only sustainable cocoa, and the Rewe
Group will follow suit by the end of 2015. Clearly, it is possible
to use cocoa from sustainable sources even for the productionof chocolate in the lower price segments.

100 %

2021

100%

Produced as certified

50-70%

Adjusted for double / triple certification

Sold as certified

2013
certified part    & total used cocoa
2016

2021

certified verified

certified verified

figures in 1000 Tonnes

44%

Double certification
The three standard bodies Fairtrade International, UTZ Certified,and Rainforest Alliance/SAN certified nearly 1.4 million tonnesof cocoa, roughly 30% of the world market. It is unknown how
much of the cocoa that originates from farmer groups they

27

28

control is double or even triple certified. This means the same
tonne could be counted as certified by more than one standard
body. Some stakeholders in the industry and standards bodies
estimate between 33 and 50% of the certified cocoa is notavailable in reality because it arrives from double or triple
certified farmer groups. This would mean that there are 720.000– 950.000 tons of certified cocoa available. Approximately
631.000 tonnes of cocoa were sold as certified. Half of this is not
sold to the major chocolate manufacturers, but to smaller ‘niche’
chocolate companies and home brands.

Powder to Butter Cocoa Bean Equivalent Conversion Rate
Generally speaking, only cocoa mass and cocoa butter are
needed to make chocolate. Cocoa powder is mostly a sideproduct. However, in some certification standards, the certificate
on purchased powder can or could be exchanged for an equalamount of certified butter or mass. The net result is that the
chocolate manufacturer can sell a bar of chocolate as 100%
certified, while only 60-80% of the purchased volume of cocoa
is actually certified. This means that a farmer effectively does
not receive the entire premium that he should be. Initially put
forward as a tool to kick-start the mainstreaming of sustainablecocoa, this practice is in the process of being phased out.
Fairtrade has stopped this practice over the last year, but UTZ
will not phase it out until 2018.

29

5. Value Distribution
Farming

Trade

Processing

Manufacturing

RetailValue Distribution
30

31

value
added

6.6%
Farming:from Tree to Bean

The first stage in thecocoa value chain is thecocoa farm. Cocoa pods
are harvested during
two harvest seasons.
Subsequently the pods
are opened, and thebeans are separated fromthe shell and mulch. The
beans are then fermented
in the mulch on location
for a few days, after which
they are dried at farmor village level. In Latin
America, farmers often
sell “wet” beans, where
drying and fermentation
happens at regional level.
Sometimes, drying happens further ‘downstream’in Côte d’Ivoire as well.

Farm poverty
Farmers have the largest relative income in thevalue chain (an Ivoriancocoa farmer would earna ‘profit’ of almost 60%
on the selling price of his
cocoa). But the small scaleof their farms and relatively low yields mean that
their total annual income
remains very low. As they
are mostly self-employed,
this income cannot beseen as ‘net profit’, but has
to be counted as income
from labour, land, and return on investment. Even
if the farmer would be
able to double his yieldand receive a premium forproducing certified cocoa,
his net income often
wouldn’t be able to reachthe extreme poverty line.
Market power plays animportant role in influencing value distribution. And
though the entire value
chain stands or falls withthe cocoa farmer, they
have the weakest market
power.

FOB Price
The Free on Board price,or FOB, is the price of atonne of cocoa once it isloaded on a ship in the
producing nation’s port.
FOB is volatile on a daily
basis, and tends to belower during the harvest
season. The percentageof the FOB price that a
farmer receives varies pernation. Historically, Ghana- the world’s second
largest producer of cocoa- has set a fixed price forfarmers. In the last few
years, Côte d’Ivoire - theworld’s largest cocoa
producing nation - hassimilarly started setting
a fixed minimum priceprovided farmers delivera minimum quality. Other
nations have no such fixedprice settings.

Inaccurate Weights andQuality Controls
An often-underreported
issue is that weights are
structurally manipulated
at point of sale. Due toinsufficient oversight,
fraudulent quality control
checks often also reduce the revenue for the
farmer’s cocoa. In somecountries, even official
weighing stones weighless than the stamped
values on them, according
to sources we have consulted for this Barometer.
This is not unique tococoa, but it is a reality
many cocoa farmers must
deal with, and which costs
them between 5% - 20%
revenue, while their costs
stay the same.

Value Distribution
Farmers income weighted
Inland Transport
Taxes/MarketingBoard
International Transport
Costs port of arrival
International Traders
Processors & Grinders
Manufacturer*
Retail& Taxes

Sells		
$ 1.874$ 1.971$ 2.745$ 2.793$ 2.993$ 3.038$ 4.434$ 10.858$ 18.917

Per tonne of sold cocoa

Recommendation:
Develop price-setting
mechanisms in order
to increase national
minimum prices of cocoa,
ensuring that the pricemeets realistic costs ofproduction.
Recommendation:
Foster independent
farmer organisations.

Costs		 Value Added Profit final sale$
664 $ 1.210$ 1.210
6,6%$ 1.874 $
97
? 		
0,5%
$ 1.971 $
774
? 		
4,2%
$ 2.745 $
48
? 		
0,3%
$ 2.793 $
201
? 		
1,1%
$ 2.993 $
45
$
15
0,2%
$ 3.038 $ 1.395
$
211
7,6%
$ 4.434 $ 6.425
$
870
35,2%
$ 10.858 $ 8.058
$
473
44,2%

Value Distribution
32

value
added

33

value
added

6.6% 6.3%
Transport andTrade: from Farm
to Factory

From the farm village,
cocoa is transported to
local collection points
and cooperatives. Hereit is purchased by local
traders or licensed
buying companies,
who transport thecocoa in larger quantities to ports, where thecocoa is stored until
shipping to the major processing ports,
where the cocoa is often cleaned, and thenwarehoused.

Inland Transport
The Ghanaian andIvorian marketingboards have stipulated
a fixed amount of the
FOB to be allocatedfor transport costs fromfarm to port. In othercountries, there is nosuch a fixed amount.
Additionally, there arecosts for storage andhandling at producing
ports. In general, half
the inland transportation costs go to local
transport from the farmto the collection centre.

Taxes and Marketing
BoardsThere are major differences in taxation on
cocoa per country, as
well as strong varianceon the role - if any - ofnational cocoa marketing boards. In Nigeria
there are virtuallyno taxes; as a result
the FOB percentage
received by the farmers
is relatively high, while
in Ghana and Côte
d’Ivoire approximately
20% - 30% goes totaxes and marketingboards. Nations with asignificant annual income from cocoa taxes
should be transparent
about cocoa earnings
and about expenditures, to enable an
informed democratic
debate.

International Transport
In order to compensate
for the relatively low
international transportation costs, shippers use
relatively high Terminal
Handling Costs (THC’s)
at consuming nations
ports. Interestingly, Ghanacharges more for the
shipping of its cocoa thanother West African countries. As such, they receive
approximately €17 more
per shipped ton than it’sneighbouring countries.
This amounts to almost €12 million extra income
per year for the Cocobod.

Commodity markets
Cocoa trading companies do not just buy andsell the physical cocoa.
Much of their business isconducted through commodity exchange markets.
Traders can protect themselves against market fluctuations, or even benefit
from these fluctuations,through hedging, futures,and other market mechanisms. In the commodity
markets, there is an important role played by banks
and investment funds
that are not involved in
the cocoa industry. They
have no direct interestin the physical handling

Value Distribution
Farmers income weighted
Inland Transport
Taxes/MarketingBoard
International Transport
Costs port of arrival
International Traders
Processors & Grinders
Manufacturer*
Retail& Taxes

Sells		
$ 1.874$ 1.971$ 2.745$ 2.793$ 2.993$ 3.038$ 4.434$ 10.858$ 18.917

Per tonne of sold cocoaof the product, and are
involved in the commodity markets for the simple
reason of earning moneyfrom speculation. As such,their involvement often
falsifies the price setting
mechanism of supply anddemand.
Recommendation:
Ensure transparency ingovernment revenue
received on cocoa.
Recommendation:
Facilitate discussions
on price-mechanisms
and living income forsmallholder farmers.

Buys		 Value Added Profit final sale$
664 $ 1.210$ 1.210
6,6%$ 1.874 $
97
? 		
0,5%
$ 1.971 $
774
? 		
4,2%
$ 2.745 $
48
? 		
0,3%
$ 2.793 $
201
? 		
1,1%
$ 2.993 $
45
$
15
0,2%
$ 3.038 $ 1.395
$
211
7,6%
$ 4.434 $ 6.425
$
870
35,2%
$ 10.858 $ 8.058
$
473
44,2%

Value Distribution
34

value
added

35

value
added

value
added

value
added

value
added

6.6% 6.3% 7.6% 35.2%

44.2%

Manufacturing: from Cocoa to Chocolate

Cocoa mass is the main ingredient for chocolate;
it is then combined with cocoa butter and powder,sugar, and milk powder (for milk chocolate) tomake couverture. Later on, ingredients such as
nuts and other ingredients are added. It is thenpoured into the moulds that shape the productinto the form we would recognise as chocolate.
The product is then packaged, and made ready forshipment to retail.

Processing: From Bean to Butter
Once arrived in processing facilities, beans are converted to cocoa mass through grinding androasting. Subsequently, the massis pressed, resulting in cocoa
butter and cocoa powder. Profits
for processors are achieved
through traditional margins.
Additional profit is realised bybuying cocoa mass, cocoa butter and cocoa powder (cake)on the international market(mostly produced by Southerncountries). These products arethen refined, mixed with othervolumes (dilution) and thensold as first quality ingredients.
Processing companies can decide to stock butter, mass and/or

powder as to take advantage ofdifferences in market prices ofthese products.

Weight and moisture loss
Throughout the process oftransporting cocoa beans, theweight of a ton of cocoa deteriorates due to moisture loss.
Moisture content at farm gate ispresumed to be around 9,5%.
By the time cocoa reaches theport of arrival, this has dropped
to 6,5%. Grinding and roasting
further reduces moisture levels
to around 1,5%. Additionally,
processors calculate a loss onbeans through bad quality, waste
in the cocoa, etc.

Retail: from Chocolate to Consumer
From the factories, the chocolate
is either transported directly to theretailers or to wholesalers, where itis distributed to retailers.

Cheap chocolate
Margins and profits for retailers
are under pressure due to various
reasons, such as price wars and theeconomic recession of the last years,
resulting in an increasing market
concentration in the retail branch.
The margins and profits of manufacturers are also under pressure, since
the retailers pass the pressure backinto the supply chain. As a result,many manufacturers are obliged tolower their wholesale price.
Value Distribution
Farmers income weighted
Inland Transport
Taxes/MarketingBoard
International Transport
Costs port of arrival
International Traders
Processors & Grinders
Manufacturer*
Retail& Taxes
Per tonne of sold cocoa

Sells		
$ 1.874$ 1.971$ 2.745$ 2.793$ 2.993$ 3.038$ 4.434$ 10.858$ 18.917

Role of retail
Retailers should be incorporated
into the debate on sustainablecocoa in a much more intensified
manner. As they are the price-settersfor final consumers, their importancecannot be overstated. However, they
are largely absent in almost all of thecocoa sustainability discussions.

Recommendation:
Retailers should beincorporated into thedebate on sustainablecocoa in a much more
intensified manner.
Buys		 Value Added Profit final sale$
664 $ 1.210$ 1.210
6,6%$ 1.874 $
97
? 		
0,5%
$ 1.971 $
774
? 		
4,2%
$ 2.745 $
48
? 		
0,3%
$ 2.793 $
201
? 		
1,1%
$ 2.993 $
45
$
15
0,2%
$ 3.038 $ 1.395
$
211
7,6%
$ 4.434 $ 6.425
$
870
35,2%
$ 10.858 $ 8.058
$
473
44,2%

36

37
7500

Long term cocoa price

5000

2500
2010

2000

Redistribution
In a hypothetical situation, if one were to distribute half of the
chocolate profits of the major manufacturers and processors
among the ca. 5,5 million smallholder cocoa farmers in theworld, it would raise their annual income. In Côte d’Ivoire thiswould increase by thirteen per cent. This looks like a significant
increase, but it would still leave most of the farmers well below
the extreme poverty line. One suggestion to create a framework
for better value distribution is a Global Cocoa Fund, where asmall surcharge at the commodity trading level be set aside
in a fund that would then be reinvested in cocoa growing
communities. Although it would alleviate some of the worst
poverty, it would be safe to say that redistribution of profits
would only be part of the answer. In order to properly findsolutions to the challenges facing the cocoa sector, we must be
more ambitious than this.

1990

the large chocolate manufacturers is often not much less than
the financial contributions the company puts into sustainablecocoa. Also, the marketing costs of these companies are
astronomical. The 2009 Cocoa Barometer calculated that justone per cent of the marketing budget of the biggest chocolate
manufacturers ($86 million per year) would cover the costs totrain 430.000 farmers in Côte d’Ivoire, which would be half thecocoa farmer population (Cocoa Barometer 2009). If companies
would decide to invest as much money in the cocoa producers
as in marketing, most of cocoa’s problems could be solved
overnight.

1980

1970

1960

1950

1940

1930

1920

1910

Expenditure choices
Though profit margins of major manufacturers and processors
do not seem extravagant, there are several choices made bymajor industry players that are not available to more vulnerable
players such as cocoa farmers. The annual pay for the CEO’s of

1900

Economy of scale
At first reading, none of the average margins in the supply chain
are exorbitant, although some companies do have large profit
margins. Also, absolute profits can be significant for companies
operating at scale. Inversely it can be said that the smaller the
scale of the company, the harder it is to make a living. Many of
the smaller actors in the supply chain are either struggling withbankruptcy or are prey to acquisitions and mergers.

1890

Long term cocoa priceOver the last 160 years, the only times that the cocoa prices –adjusted for inflation – were as low as now, were times of major
global crises. In the 1860s and 1870s, not only was America in
Civil War, there was also a global recession, and several major
wars in Europe. From the 1910s to the 1940s, the world wasengulfed in subsequent World Wars and the Great Depression.
From the early 1980’s onwards, however, the price of cocoa
went in a steep decline, and has stayed well under the longterm average.

1880

Recommendation:
Require corporations to
execute living income
calculations for cocoa intheir supply chain.

The mechanism of value and price is broken. It must be fixed. At
the end of the story, the consumer is buying chocolate at pricesthat do not reflect the true cost of producing chocolate. The
supply chain is squeezed.

1870

A Squeezed Supply Chain

1860

1850

Recommendation:
Ensure that market
concentration does notreach market-distortinglevels.

38
Recommendation:
Facilitate discussions
on price-mechanisms
and living income forsmallholder farmers.

Internalised costs
The calculations in this chapter do not take into account costs
that are not covered by the value chain, the so-called ‘hidden’social, environmental and economic costs. A lack of access tohealthcare, education, and clean drinking water, environmental
degradation, stunted growth due to malnutrition, corruption
as a result of poverty; many of these issues are a result of an
insufficient price received by farmers. In economic terms, theseare ‘externalised costs’. If the cocoa chain is to become truly
sustainable and attractive to future generations, these costs aregoing to have to be internalised.
Increasing price at farm level
With the current choices in company expenditures and margins
throughout the value chain, there is too little money in thecocoa value chain to go around. In this, the cocoa value chain
is exemplary of the trend in the previous decades to squeeze
a supply chain until there is little room left for squeezing.
However, if cocoa is to become attractive to future generationsof farmers, something must be done to increase the price as
one important factor determining the income of the families atfarm level significantly (details see next chapter).
The price-setting mechanism itself is a complex system. Thereis no single player that can raise the price of cocoa. Redefining
how cocoa prices are set would only be possible throughinternational dialogue. Though commercial actors are hesitant
to discuss about price or what is the right level of income forcocoa farmers because of anti-trust laws, ways must be found tohave a broad dialogue on this essential topic. In other sectors,
such as the German meat market, similar approaches have been
undertaken in conjunction with the relevant anti-trust bodies.
There is a major role for governments and other regulating
bodies in this. In any case, all stakeholder groups need to be
involved in this discussion.

6. Living Income
for Smallholder
Cocoa Farmers$2
Current

$0,50

$2

$2

$2

yield

size

price

$2
yield
+
size

yield
+ size+ price$ 3,00Côte d’Ivoire

39

40
Recommendation:
Provide statistical
data on cocoa farmers
communities in order tocalculate an accurate living
income.
Recommendation:
Baseline business models
for living income in all
sustainability programmes
Recommendation:
Redistribute internal costs
towards more sustainableprocurement
Recommendation:
Engage price-setting
mechanisms in order toensure a living income ispossible

There are two fundamental reasons to advocate that
smallholder cocoa farmers should earn a living income; thebusiness imperative to ensure the long-term viability of thecocoa supply chain, and the value-based imperative to ensure
the fundamental human rights to a decent livelihood.3 Bothdeserve more thorough discussion.
There is broad consensus that in order to ensure future cocoa
supply, it is necessary to make cocoa farming an attractive
profession again. Of the many sustainability programmes incocoa, most integrate yield increase, and some include crop
diversification. None of these programmes use a calculation of
the basic needs and required net income to meet these needs
as a basis for developing the project parameters.
A smallholder cocoa farm is no different from any otherenterprise. A farmer’s income is dependent on just four core
metrics; cost of production, quantity of produce, farm gate
price, and quality of the produce. However, there are also otheraspects to a living income; living needs, amount of dependents,
amount of workers or income providers, food production (which
does not need to be bought) and income diversification. All
these variables need to be incorporated in order to come to aliving income calculation method.

Living Wage and Living Income

In cocoa, self-employed smallholder farmers and their families
run the majority of farms. They are not wageworkers, andtherefore do not fall under the categories covered by living
wage or minimum wage indicators (in most cocoa producing
countries, the minimum wage level is far below a living income).
Nonetheless, the living wage calculation method can partly beapplied to find a definition for a living income. Currently, thethree major standards (UTZ Certified, Fairtrade and Rainforest
Alliance) have introduced or are introducing living wage
indicators in their revised standards, as part of the joint Living

3. The preamble to the founding document of the International Labour
Organisation in 1919 declares the necessity for a “payment adequate to maintaina reasonable standard of living that is understood in their time and country”.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “just and favourable
remuneration” is a basic right, not just for the labourer, but also for the labourer’s
family (UN 1948: Article 23(3)). The UN International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural rights is even more specific, naming a “decent living for themselves
and their family” a basic right (UN 1966: Article 7). Furthermore, the ‘UN Guiding
Principles on Business and Human Rights’ state that is it the duty of governments
to protect people from human rights violations, and that it is the responsibility ofcompanies to respect these human rights (UN 2011).

Wage Project. But certification currently reaches only theminority of cocoa farmers, and as mentioned, the farmers are
generally not wageworkers.
Currently, the ILO is working on an initiative towards Decent
Work in a broader context, which is attempting to make thisapplicable to self-employed workers such as farmers as well.
GISCO, ISEAL and the Sustainable Food Lab are also hosting
efforts to come to definitions of Living Income for smallholder
cocoa farmers. The findings of these projects should beshared publicly as much as possible, so that an informed andsector-wide debate on this essential topic can develop andappropriate actions can be taken.

Production costs
Each harvest season, farmers have a core set of production costs
that must be met; pesticide and fertiliser use, land rent, planting
material, costs for training, transportation and storage, partly
membership fees to a cooperative, maintenance, informal roadtax etc. Some of these recurring operational costs are largely
under-emphasised. Many farmers are sharecroppers or tenantsof the land they till, and pay for the use of the land either incash or with a percentage of their harvested cocoa. These costs
are seldom incorporated in current calculations. Additionally tofamily labour, there is widespread use of (seasonal) hired labour,
especially in harvest time, which is likewise regularly not appliedin current calculations.
Investment costs
Much of the current debate around increasing farmer income
revolves around raising the productivity of cocoa farms. A cocoa
farmer would have to significantly invest in training and inputs
to reach the goals of some cocoa companies of doubling oreven tripling yields. However, it is not clear if the increased
income of improving yields outweigh the costs of productivity
increase, such as added agrochemical use, training, and labour.
Cost/benefit calculations on increasing productivity should bemade and clearly communicated to the farmers, prior to the rollout of these programmes. This will also reduce the frustration
many farmers are currently experiencing in such programmes.
These investment costs are usually upfront, requiring accessto credit, which is a challenge for most farmers, especiallywomen. Land tenure insecurity, the availability of credit, andusury, all add to this challenge. A low farm revenue could meanthat farmers have to choose between investments to survive
over investments in the future of the children or in providing
adequate nutrition to their families.

41

$ 0,5042$ 0,84250 %$ 1,25400 %$ 2,00absolute
poverty
150 % 1,25

240 %CÔte d’ivore
43

poverty$ 2,00

Cost of Cocoa Farming
Combining the above issues, the business costs as part of aliving income calculation should cover at least the following
elements:• Material: harvesting tools, protective clothing(for use of pesticides), boots,• Knowledge: costs for training, for some farmers
certification and auditing costs• Labour and land: hired seasonal labour, land use(including sharecropping), labour of the family(women, men, children)• Infrastructure: local transportation, warehousing,membership of cooperative,• Finance: availability and accessibility of affordable
credit and insurance, taxation (if applicable)
Once these variables have been identified, it is possible to makea calculation of (expected) farm costs.

Revenue of Cocoa Farming
Revenue at farm gate is relatively straightforward to calculate;the amount of cocoa produced multiplied by the price received.
However, if one is to construct a calculation method, certain
core variables are best put in place. Calculating future revenue
would require making an inventory of farm size (bearing in mind
current overestimations of farm size, as well as the amount ofarable farm plot vs. total overall farm size), current yield per
hectare (or future expected yield, including yield increase
through productivity programmes), and the price a farmer is
expected to receive for his/her cocoa. Once these variables
have been identified, it is possible to make a calculation of

Ghana(expected) farm revenue from cocoa, and also of net farmincome from cocoa; Revenue minus Cost of Farming = Net Farm
Income from cocoa.

Household size and monocroppingA decent living income calculation is not just about the farm’s
net result from growing cocoa. It is also dependent on thehousehold size and availability of other sources of income.
For a variety of reasons, average household sizes and levels ofdiversification of crops vary, both between and within countries.
A larger amount of dependents creates a lower per capita
income. An unrealistically low amount of dependants and/or
dependency on cocoa for income will result in income estimatesthat do not reflect the reality of poverty in cocoa growing
communities. It is essential to therefore have work with regional
indices of average household sizes and levels of monocropping
in order to properly be able to make these calculations.
Current Poverty Levels of Cocoa Farmers
Bearing these variables in mind, it makes sense to attempt
an income calculation per dependent as well. We haveattempted such a calculation, based on currently available data
(Infographic on previous pages). Putting these calculations
within the perspective of what constitutes poverty, however, isa challenge. There are several approaches possible. One would
be to follow the World Bank poverty lines; under $2 per capita
per day means that a person lives in poverty, below $1.25 inextreme poverty. Another approach could be to use the national
poverty lines, as defined by many cocoa-producing nations. An
additional complication is that there is often a strong variancein access to basic infrastructure and social services (Anker 2011:40). This differs not only per country, but often by region, andsometimes even by village.

44

45

Elements of a living income

Clean drinking
water andsanitation

Decenthousing

Adequate
clothing andfootwear

Infrastructure

A nutritious
low-cost dietSocial security
schemes andbasic social
services

Savings
to ensure
economic
resilience

Needs calculation
According to the ILO, basic standards for a decent wage should
include the “needs of workers and their families”, “the cost ofliving, social security benefits, and the relative living standardsof other social groups”, and “economic factors, including therequirements of economic development, levels of productivity
and the desirability of attaining and maintaining a high level of
employment” (ILO Convention No. 131, Article 3, 1970).
As such, a more accurate – but also costly – way of calculatingneeds, is to make a regional inventory of what real living costs
are, shown above.
It would be very valuable if a list of needs – as well as
methodology how to assess the accompanying costs – could
be embraced across the sector, so that comparable researchand programme impact can become measurable. Until suchcalculations are in place, most of the fact-based conversation
will have to revolve around current incomes of cocoa
households, making it hard to accurately indicate what the gap
is between current household income and desired income.

Price
To ensure a living income, farmers have a responsibility to work
hard and efficiently, and to deliver a good product. However,even if one were to significantly change variables such as yield,
and farm size, the possibility for a cocoa farmer to escapepoverty is only marginal if the farm gate price remains at present
levels. Only if the price is significantly increased in combination
with these two factors can farmers hope to escape poverty.

Intersectorial exchange needed

The cocoa sector is not alone in its search for a method to calculate a living
income or a living wage. The decent wage debate has been on-going for years in
the textile industry, and some pioneering data collections were made in various
countries.
The producers and traders of crops like banana, tea, grapes, flowers and cotton
are also trying to find ways to calculate a living wage and in some areas, where
the products are grown by smallholders, to define a living income (Anker/Anker

2013, 2013a, 2014, 2014a).

Certification

Premiums paid by major standards bodies will only go a short way in solving
the problem of price. On average, the financial benefits of certification before
deduction of costs are calculated between $150 and $200 per tonne, at best
increasing a farmer’s income by 10% of which you have to deduct even the costs
for memberships fees, audits etc.

46

7. Conclusions and
Key Recommendations
Unless cocoa farming provides a living income, it simply
isn’t sustainable. It is a long-term business imperative and abasic human right. This will require improving current farming
practices, curbing market concentration, investing in local
infrastructure and service sectors, and reviewing the global
price-setting mechanisms.
The term ‘shared responsibility’ is being used more and more.
And it should be. It is unrealistic to expect any single actor tosolve the problems of the cocoa supply chain. Every major actor
should take his or her share of the burden, and many of theissues should be addressed jointly, and pre-competitively.
To make this more concrete, the 2015 Cocoa Barometer offers
specific recommendations to a range of stakeholders in order to:• Improve the impact of certification• Increase the share of the cocoa farmers in the value chain• Develop a living income model for smallholder cocoa farming
Key Recommendations to Governments of producing nations• Develop price-setting mechanisms in order toincrease national minimum prices of cocoa,
ensuring that the price meets realistic costs ofproduction• Foster independent farmer organisations• Ensure transparency in government revenue received on cocoa• Invest adequately in rural infrastructure and services• Provide statistical data on cocoa farmers communities in order tocalculate an accurate living income
Key Recommendations to Governments of consuming nations• Ensure that market concentration does
not reach market-distorting levels• Facilitate discussions on price-mechanisms
and living income for smallholder farmers• Set up a Global Cocoa Fund at commodity level,
for reinvestment in cocoa growing communities• Introduce mandatory human rights due
diligence processes for corporations• Require corporations to execute living income
calculations for cocoa in their supply chain
Key Recommendations to industry• Commit to 100% sustainable independently

verified cocoa purchasing• Redistribute internal costs towards
more sustainable procurement• Be transparent about payments to governments
and national cocoa institutions• Develop baseline business models for living
income in all sustainability programmes• Share collected data on cocoa• Have in place a human rights due diligence process
Key Recommendations to civil society
organizations and farmers• Consolidate existing and create new stablenetworks of farmers rights organizations• Improve the dialogue between southern andnorthern civil society organizations and farmers• Foster independent farmer organisations• Get involved in and raise awareness of theimportance of living income
Key Recommendations to standard bodies• Make impact studies fully available, especially on
lessons learned, not just successes• Put in place systems to reduce corruption andinefficiencies in auditing• Develop and integrate a basic business model ofliving income in every standard
Key Recommendations for the joint sector:+ Develop a common strategy on:+ living income+ roll-out of farmer organisation to unorganised farmers.
+ price-setting mechanisms of the cocoa markets+ Put in place regulatory measures to ensure costs
are internalised, in both consuming and producing
nations, creating a level playing field47

Justification of figures and tables
Literature and calculations
A complete list of literature and downloadable
excel files with numbers used for the calculationsin this Cocoa Barometer can be found on www.
cocoabarometer.org.
In this Barometer, we are calling for moreshared and transparent data. In that light, weare providing a full justification of all the sources
used for both the Value Distribution and Living
Income calculations available as a downloadable
Excel file at www.cocoabarometer.org.
We welcome any and all critique and/or
improvement of the database for future use.
Profits and margins
As the major companies do not publish theprofits made specifically on cocoa, margin andprofit calculations for traders, processors andmanufacturers in this paper are extrapolations.
These are based on average margins andvolumes that resulted from interviews andresearch conducted for this paper.
Visual on Cover Page
Estimated annual profits of large cocoa
processors and chocolate manufacturers, based
on tonnages and averages margins per tonne.
(See visuals 4 and 6 for justification). Estimatedincome of cocoa farmers, per dependent, perday. (See visual 9 for justification).
Visual 1 (page 4)
Global Production and Consumption
Source: ICCO 2014. Production Table 4(over 2013/2014), Consumption Table 37(over 2012/2013)
Visual 2 (page 6).
Market Concentration
Based on own calculations
Visual 3 (page 19)
Standards Tonnage
Data graciously supplied by the Standards
Bodies, based on a questionnaire. Fairtrade
tonnage is for harvest season 2012/2013,
not for calendar year 2013
Visual 4.(page 24 & 26)
Companies Tonnage
Data graciously provided by the companies.
Major traders, grinders and chocolate
manufacturers were sent a questionnaire, whichwas (partially) returned by Barry Callebaut,Blommer, Cargill, Continaf, Ecom, Ferrero,
Hersheys, Lindt und Sprüngli, Mars, Mondelēz,

Nestlé, Olam and Touton. Only ADM failed torespond with numbers, the tonnages provided
here are from the 2012 Cocoa Barometer.
As the data submitted in these responses were
not easily comparable, and credibility issues
arose regarding the real measurement programs
used, this calculation provides only a coarse
estimation of the current situation. Because of
trade, double registration at Trader/Grinder levelis not only possible it is inevitable.
Visual 5 (page 28)
Double/Triple Certification
See text on page 28
Visual 6 (page 29-35)
Value Distribution
Margin and profit calculations for traders,processors and manufacturers in this paper are
extrapolations, based on average margins andvolumes resulted from interviews and research
conducted for the 2015 Cocoa Barometerand the „Value Distribution“ Consultation
Paper published in 2014. Additional figuresand refinement were possible through theplentiful feedback the authors received on theConsultation Paper.
Visual 7 (page 36-38)
Long Term Cocoa Price
Based on: Real cocoa prices (2013 values) from
1950-2013, Gilbert 2014: 5
Historical interpretation and references:
Barometer Consortium
Visual 8 (page 39)
Potential income increase
Potential income for cocoa farmers based on
current situation, on yield increase, on increaseof farm size, on a combination of both of these,on an increase of price, and on an increaseof all three variables. This visual is for Côte
d’Ivoire only. For Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, theunderlying calculations can be found atwww.cocoabarometer.org
Visual 9 (page 42-43)
Poverty at Farm Level
UNDP and World Bank define poverty to beunder $2 a day, absolute poverty at $1,25. These
definitions are based on parity purchasing
power instead of absolute dollars, and arecertainly not undisputed (definitions could be on
the very low side). As we argue in this Barometer,
Living Income’ calculations based on local
realistic levels are necessary.

The authors have done extensive literature
study into amount of dependents, yield, farmsize, farm-gate price, input costs, and level ofmonocropping. The aggregated results can befound in the table below.
Dependents
Yield (t.p.h.)
Farm Size (ha)Farm-gate priceInput costs (p.h.)
Monocropping

Ghana
5,9
0,42
2,6
$ 1.630$ 360
78%

Côte d’Ivoire
10
0,49
3,5
$ 1.487$ 513
90%

List of abbreviations
EU:
European Union
CCC:
Conseil du Café-Cacao (Côte d’Ivoire)
CCE:
Certification Curriculum Enhancement
CEN:
Central European Normalisation
Agency
CLCCG: Child Labour Cocoa Coordination
Group (United States)
FLA:
Fair Labor Association
FOB:
Free On Board price
FT:
Fairtrade Labelling Organisation
International
GCA:
Global Cocoa Agenda
GICSO: German Initiative on Sustainable
Cocoa
HRDD: Human Rights Due Diligence
ICCO: International Cocoa Organisation
ICI:
International Cocoa Initiative
IDH:
Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative
ILO:
International Labour Organisation
ISO:
International Standardisation
Organisation
NCDP: National Cocoa Development Plans
NGO’s: Non-governmental organisations
RA:
Rainforest Alliance/SAN
SECO: Swiss State Secretariat for Economic
Affairs
THC:
Terminal Handling Costs
TNCP: The Nestlé Cocoa Plan
UNGP: United Nations Guiding Principles on
Business and Human Rights
UTZ:
UTZ Certified
WCC:
World Cocoa Conference
WCF:
World Cocoa Foundation
2QC:
Qualité, Quantité, Croissance program(Côte d’Ivoire)

ColofonCitation: Fountain, A.C. and Hütz-Adams, F.
(2015) Cocoa Barometer 2015
Text: Antonie Fountain (VOICE Network),
Friedel Hütz-Adams (Südwind Institut)
Additional research: Dick de Graaf (EFFAT),Paul Elshof
Additional contributors: Andrea Hüsser (Berne
Declaration), Beatrice Moulianitaki (Solidaridad),
Carolyn Kitto (Stop The Traffik), Corrie Roeper(FNV Mondiaal), Frank Mechielsen (Oxfam
Novib), Jan ‘t Lam (Navigatio), Jos Hendriks(FNV), Marieke Poissonnier (Oxfam
Wereldwinkels), Sjoerd Panhuijsen (Hivos).
Design: Tegenwind, Roelant Meijer, Utrecht
Print: Drukkerij Mostert & van Onderen!
We appreciate the effort of companies
and standards bodies in answering ourquestionnaires, as well as the many respondents
to the Consultation Papers that were the lead-up
to the 2015 Cocoa Barometer.
The final responsibility for the content and theviews expressed in this publication lies solely
with the authors.
Copyright: The 2015 Cocoa Barometer isalso available as digital download, as are theseparate infographics used in this document.
We encourage the use of this data in otherpublications, provided proper references are
given. Published under Creative Commons
License Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
Participating organisations
VOICE Network
ABVV/Horval (Belgium)
Berne Declaration (Switzerland)
FNV (Netherlands)
Oxfam Novib (Netherlands)
Oxfam Wereldwinkels (Belgium)
Stop The Traffik (United Kingdom)
Südwind Institut (Germany)FNV Mondiaal (Netherlands)
Hivos (Netherlands)
Solidaridad (Netherlands)
Contact
www.cocoabarometer.org
Requests for information can be addressed to:Antonie Fountain
Coordinator VOICE Network
antonie@voicenetwork.eu

www.cocoabarometer.org