Lindt & Sprüngli, Barry Callebaut and Nestlé are among companies to join the Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa to strengthen sustainable chocolate production in the country.
A total of 41 players from the Swiss cocoa industry have pledged to source at least 80% of cocoa-containing products into the country from sustainable sources by 2025.
Founding members of the platform include the industry association Chocosuisse, importers and distributors of cocoa-containing products, Swiss retailers, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), NGOs and research institutions.
The platform aims to source cocoa beans, cocoa mass, butter and powder, as well as imported finished products in a sustainable manner.
Former president of Chocosuisse Walter Anderau said: “In the longer term, the entire physical flow of imported cocoa-containing products to Switzerland is to be based on sustainable production.”
The initiative aims to achieve measurable improvements in a timely manner. Therefore, it will focus its activities on the areas in which its members have great experience and can make a contribution worldwide.
The cocoa platform said it is committed to a close cooperation with all major players in the global cocoa sector. It promotes the dialogue with local authorities and organisations in the producing countries and coordinates their measures with international and national initiatives.
SECO director Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch said: “As part of the Global Agenda 2030, the new initiative can help to improve the living conditions of people in developing countries and to preserve their subsistence.
“An important asset of the cocoa platform is that it provides a framework for closer cooperation between the private sector and the public sector. Thus, the economic development cooperation that we are able to achieve in various cocoa-producing countries can have more impact.”
Last year, some of the world’s largest confectionery companies signed up to the World Cocoa Foundation’s frameworks to combat deforestation in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana.
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