Sustainability in Cocoa Farming


No two farmers are the same


The long term challenges surrounding cocoa farming and sustainable agriculture may seem all encompassing, but Kennedy’s Confection Editor, Kiran Grewal, speaks to industry experts who off er further insight, plans and solutions


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ustainability efforts in cocoa farming is an extensive topic, one that cannot be fi xed overnight and certainly can’t be discussed fully in this feature. When asked what the issue is in the cocoa industry at present, Original Beans Founder, Philipp Kauffmann summed it up: “The current cocoa and, by extension, chocolate industry is an exploitative industry, making money on the lowest social, environmental and quality denominators.” Original Beans founder Philipp Kauffmann represents the 7th generation in a


family of recognised nature explorers and conservationists who coined the term “sustainability”. One of them advised in 1795 to preserve nature in such a way that future generations can experience her as we do today. Philipp gave up his job at the United Nations in New York to grow Original Beans as a brand for a world in which we regenerate what we consume. He says: “I am an optimist and know from our business experience at Original


Beans that it is possible to build a thriving cacao sector. The most important lever to achieve this are higher prices for chocolate which get distributed more fairly and evenly through the value chain to the cocoa farmers. The cocoa commodity market needs to be reined in. I can see a future in which the big chocolate players will move to support this, because the risks of fi nancial speculation, reputation loss, climate costs and consumer protection laws will become too high.”


28 Kennedy’s Confection June 2022 KennedysConfection.com


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