Maybe you have been hearing about the recent spike in the cost of cocoa and worried about how this might affect your chocolate-loving ways.
Let me break this down to help you understand a little bit more about why this is happening and what we’re doing here at Viva Cacao to continue to offer the best quality vegan chocolate available in these unprecedented times.
Climate change and disease have lowered the African cacao harvest which is where 70% of the world's cocoa comes from. Because of this, the big players, such as Nestle, Mars, and Hershey’s have essentially scoured the world to buy up all the cacao they can get at whatever price. This is creating a supply issue and driving the price up as demand rises.
Why Fair Pricing Matters for Cocoa Sustainability
Decades of low prices have made African farmers poorer and hampered their ability to hire workers or invest in their farms, limiting bean yield. Old cocoa trees are particularly vulnerable to disease and extreme weather. Many farmers are abandoning cocoa for other crops, and there is also illegal gold mining taking over farmland, sometimes unbeknownst to the owners.
If the big companies had paid farmers a fair price and helped them make their farms more resilient to extreme weather this could have been averted but the multi-billion-dollar chocolate industry (Big Chocolate) only thinks about their profits.
Some food for thought:
- Lindt, Mondelez and Nestle together raked in nearly 4 billion in profits from chocolate sales in 2023.
- The collective fortunes of the Ferraro and Mars families, who own the two biggest private chocolate corporations, surged to 160.9 billion during the same period. This is more than the combined GDPs of Ghana and Ivory Coast, which supply 70% of the world's cocoa beans.
This is a huge reason I started Viva Cacao and have made it my mission to ensure we pay the farmers fairly and honour all the work that goes into creating quality chocolate. By sourcing from farmers and cooperatives through our partners at Cacaolife, we are ensuring that we fulfil that mission and also provide our customers with only the highest quality!
The silver lining in this predicament is that farmers in Peru and other parts of South America are being paid well for their harvests and the demand is high, so they will be expanding production and hopefully continue to get fair prices for their crops.
More Information About the Fair-Traded Cacao Viva Cacao Uses From Peru:
San Martin Cacao - These organic beans come from the San Martin department. This area is prominently mountains that are about 400-1200m above sea level, with various native communities. A difficult terrain for traditional farming, but the best for cacao! The cacao varieties in this region are mainly native and aromatic Trinitarios and Criollos.
We work with organized groups of farmers and communities who produce mostly aromatic cacao. We pay the co-operative above market farmgate price. And are extremely careful when we are procuring the beans.
Harvesting is very important, only ripe pods are harvested. One of our goals is for the farmers to make better quality. Better quality means they will get more money – and the goal is for them to become sustainable (and for cacao to not be a ‘commodity’). Over the years we have provided our expertise and feedback for free over many meetings workshops and visits to help farmers and co-ops optimize their harvesting, fermenting and drying processes.
The cooperative we mainly work with in San Martin buys cacao from 435 producers. 224 of the registered organic producers are women. The average hectarage is 2 per producer. The co-op itself has 47 full-time employees, of which 20 are women. They also have 23 part-time employees, of which 11 are women.
Regional Transformation: From Coca Planting to Sustainable Cocoa Farming
The areas of this department in the past were dominantly coca plant farming areas. Though there is absolutely nothing wrong or illegal with planting coca, as it is a fantastic plant for various medicinal purposes and has a rich history with the Incan past and the descendant communities (it is a sacred plant for many), we all know that unfortunately, it is also the main ingredient in the illegal production of Cocaine drug. The area was ripe with malicious, dangerous, oppressing activities... So, for some years now both the Peruvian government and also various international governments have helped in the promotion of alternative crops. This is where coffee and cacao come in.
Even though the cacao tree has been in this region for millennia, it is now used as a great promoter for a better way of life...more sustainable income, and better sustainability of the rainforest.
Join Viva Cacao in Supporting Sustainable and Fair Trade Chocolate!
As we navigate these challenging times, it's more important than ever to support sustainable and ethical chocolate production. At Viva Cacao, we are committed to paying farmers fairly and ensuring the highest quality in every bar of chocolate we produce. By partnering with farmers and cooperatives, particularly in regions like San Martin in Peru, we are fostering a more resilient and equitable supply chain. Our dedication to quality and sustainability not only benefits the farmers but also ensures that you, our valued customers, continue to enjoy the best vegan chocolate. Thank you for being a part of this journey with us. Let's savour the sweet moments and make a positive impact together!