minimum effectively wasn’t doing anything. However, in 2021 the government lowered its price, meaning that if a company bought chocolate on Fairtrade terms those farmers wouldn’t face as much of a financial hit. This shows how Fairtrade can help limit farmers’ exposure to market volatility. The Rainforest Alliance requires payment of a Sustainability Differential (SD) – an extra payment made to certified producers on top of the market price. However, unlike Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance doesn’t have its own minimum price, so if the market price drops farmers could still find themselves in trouble although they would still likely be getting more than non-certified farmers.
KennedysConfection.com
Four-in-10 cocoa-growing households in the Ivory Coast are estimated to use child labour, and six-in-10 in Ghana”
Rainforest Alliance also requires payment of Sustainability Investments (SI), which are cash or in-kind investments from buyers that should help farmers reach compliance with Rainforest Alliance’s standards. However, EC was not able to find any information on whether there was a minimum SI, what the average SI was, or how impactful SI investments actually are.
Today most of the multinational chocolate
companies have their own sustainability schemes but, according to EC, these schemes tend to cover just a proportion of the company’s cocoa suppliers, as opposed to 100%, meaning some farmers get the benefits but others get none. A 2023 Oxfam report said: “robust, public data on the income effects of companies’
Kennedy’s Confection December/January 2023/24 43
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