Barry Callebaut makes progress in sustainable chocolate goal, reduces carbon intensity by 17%

SWITZERLAND – Swiss chocolate manufacturer, Barry Callebaut has revealed that it is on track to towards its goal to produce completely sustainable chocolate by 2025. 

In its latest “Forever Chocolate” progress report, Barry highlighted a number of achievements that it has made over the past year, key among them being a 17% reduction in its carbon intensity per metric ton of product when compared to 2016 levels. 

In addition, the company revealed that 214,584 cocoa farmers are estimated to be liberated from poverty in the company’s direct supply chain. 

 Barry Callebaut was also proud to note that its child labor monitoring and remediation system covers 237 farmer groups, including 220,878 farmers in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Cameroon. 

In the report, Barry also revealed that there was a 10% reduction of Land Use Change (LUC) from the impact of cocoa due to company strides in traceability and sourcing. 

There has also been significant growth in Cocoa Horizons, with the premiums generating over CHF 28.4 million (US$30.87 million) in funds, an increase of more than 63% compared to 2020. 

On top of this, 43% of Barry Callebaut products sold contained 100% sustainable cocoa or chocolate and this was boosted by both on-farm and off-farm efforts, such as soil regeneration and the creation of carbon sinks.  

The company increased its planting capacity to 35 trees per hectare, including teak, mahogany and sejula, in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, accounting for 240,000 metric tons in CO2e reduction in 2021.  

In addition, cocoa grown in the shade provided by these plants is linked to increased biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and nutrient retention in the soil. 

In 2020, Barry Callebaut reduced its overall carbon footprint by 8.1%, from 8.5 million to 7.8 million metric tons of CO2e. 

This year, the company also made moves to appeal to upcycled products with the WholeFruit chocolate range. 

In the years ahead, Barry has committed to reducing poverty among its cocoa farmer workforce. 

The company reports that it has discovered that farm-specific support is more effective than a one-size-fits-all approach over the past five years.  

In 2020/21, about 125,593 cocoa farmers in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroon, Brazil, Ecuador and Indonesia received Farm Services support. 

By 2025, Barry Callebaut plans to place farmers on a trajectory of earning a living income through increased productivity and income diversification. 

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