Decarbonizing cocoa: an ethical and necessary urgency for an expanding industry. Víctor Borràs, October 2025

The cocoa industry is at a crossroads. On the one hand, the growing global demand for cocoa derivatives – such as cocoa powder, butter and cocoa paste – is driving a rising market and the expansion of industrial production and processing to levels never seen before. On the other hand, however, the environmental and social challenges associated with this value chain require a profound and urgent transformation that must go hand in hand with this expansive process before ending a dead end.

The environmental impact of cocoa: from origin to final product

The cocoa that we process in European plants comes mainly from West Africa and South America, regions that account for 74% and 17% of the world’s supply, respectively. In these territories, the pressure on ecosystems is intense: deforestation, loss of biodiversity and child or forced labour are realities that cannot be ignored.

Côte d’Ivoire, for example, has lost a large part of its primary forest in the last three decades, something in which the transformation of land uses and the advance of agricultural plantations managed without any kind of long-term vision or in terms of environmental impact have played an undeniable role that, perhaps, It has not been as intense or evident in South American crops.

On the other hand, there are processing companies, located both in producing countries and in European countries, which are located in the intermediate section of this chain. Although they do not grow cocoa, their industrial activity has a significant carbon footprint, derived from international transport, energy consumption in the plant and the milling and pressing processes. Therefore, decarbonization is not only a matter of origin, but also of transformation.

Sustainability and decarbonization strategies in the cocoa industry

Given the scenario, I think that any ESG strategy of any company linked to the cocoa sector, whatever its role and performance, should contemplate all the challenges, impacts, risks and opportunities of the entire supply chain.

From my own experience, I believe that it is highly recommended to start with an exercise of double materiality in which both internal staff of the company and, of course and at least, customers, suppliers, consumers, sectoral institutions, public administration and financial institutions are invited to participate.

In the same way, it is interesting to approach the strategy from a first process of obtaining significant data, which involves an exhaustive review of the supply chain, exhaustive review of papers and reports related to the environmental impact in the sector, review of reports from competitors, suppliers and other key companies in the sector, calculation of the organisational footprint and calculation of the product footprint (even if it is approximate or of the main references to be marketed).

In this way, all the actions derived from these exercises should go in the following direction:

• Promotion, training and investment in regenerative agriculture and organic farming techniques in producer countries; soil sanitation and recovery of lost forest.

• Promote access to education for children, improve infrastructure in cocoa-growing communities and promote attractive economic conditions for planters.

• Digitization of procedures in producing countries to improve the traceability of products and transactions and have optimal control of supply chain performance.

• Transition to renewable energy sources; digitalisation and improvements applicable to consumption control and decarbonisation of freight transport.

• Circularity as the main objective in the management of waste, especially organic waste.

Regulate: an essential lever… If it’s done right

Regulation is an essential tool to advance sustainability, but its effectiveness depends on how it is designed, applied and communicated. In recent months, the European Union has begun a process of regulatory simplification that directly affects key directives such as the CSRD (sustainability reporting) and the EUDR (regulation against deforestation).

This simplification, which is based on an initially ambitious regulation but little consensus and awareness, has generated uncertainty among companies that had already invested in adapting to the new frameworks. I note with concern how this deregulation can slow down the transformative momentum we had initiated.

Regulatory coherence, technical and political consensus, scientific support and forcefulness in application are essential elements for regulation to function as a lever for change and not as an obstacle. Regulating is necessary, but doing it well is urgent.

In short, decarbonization and mitigation of impacts of the cocoa industry is not an option, but a necessity if we want to continue enjoying chocolate (or products that contain it) accessible, especially from an economic point of view, and constructively, from a social and environmental point of view. Personally, I think it is possible to reconcile global competitiveness with environmental responsibility, something that regulators should promote through rigour, knowledge and coherence.

To this end, it is essential that companies in the sector adopt a systemic, collaborative and committed vision of the future of the planet. Because cocoa, beyond being a beloved product since time immemorial, is also today an opportunity to transform industries and communities from ethics and sustainability.

Víctor Borràs Clerigué
Head of Communication and Sustainability
by Nessentis (Nederland Group)