Barry Callebaut has announced the launch of a new range of sustainable cocoa and chocolate products, designed to further promote the company’s efforts to scale impact and drive change to improve the livelihood of cocoa farmers and their communities.
The Horizons line will be sold by Barry Callebaut with a premium, used to help improve the livelihoods of cocoa farmers and their communities. These customer premiums are channelled to the recently announced Cocoa Horizons Foundation to fund cocoa sustainability activities such as farmer training and support, and community development. The Cocoa Horizons Foundation serves as a new platform for chocolate companies and other contributors to invest in sustainable cocoa. It relies on Barry Callebaut’s expertise to implement the sustainability activities.
On the ground, Barry Callebaut’s sustainability team works with cooperatives and its own direct sourcing and farm services organisations to implement these activities for the benefit of registered farmers and farmer groups. Cocoa produced by farmers involved in these activities – currently about 25,000 – will be sold as Barry Callebaut’s sustainable Horizons cocoa and chocolate products.
These products are sold to food manufacturers as well as artisanal and professional customers and include cocoa beans, cocoa nibs, cocoa liquor, cocoa butter, cocoa powder, and chocolate. The cocoa is sourced from Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Tanzania.
Horizons cocoa is the successor to Barry Callebaut’s previous Quality Partner Program. With the creation of the Cocoa Horizons Foundation, it has evolved and improved to better scale impact, the company said. It focuses on farm productivity and community development to address on-the-ground challenges. It offers transparency on the use of funds and the breakdown of premiums. Horizons cocoa also includes the traceability of beans from farm to warehouse. Furthermore, the cocoa sustainability activities and the distribution of premiums are verified externally on an annual basis.
Barry Callebaut CEO Antoine de Saint-Affrique said: “I am excited about the development of Horizons cocoa and chocolate products, with the focus on supporting our customers on their sustainability journey. We also expect to attract new customers for these sustainable products, thereby scaling impact and driving change in cocoa sustainability globally.”
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