Fairtrade America: Statement on Cocoa Alternatives

In response to the confectionery industry’s efforts to reduce their reliance on cocoa by transitioning to low-cocoa and no-cocoa alternatives, Fairtrade America issued the following statement from Amanda Archila, Executive Director: 

“Companies that invest in cocoa alternatives instead of the people who grow cocoa are running away from the problems they created. Big chocolate has forced farming communities to live in extreme poverty by systematically underpaying for goods and labor for decades. Poverty across West Africa's rural communities, where most of the world’s cocoa is grown, is so pernicious that farming parents are often tragically left with no other option than to take their children out of school to work on their farms to make ends meet.

“Pouring money into alternatives instead of into the hands of the six million people worldwide who depend on cocoa farming for their livelihood lays bare big chocolate’s greed for all to see. Farmers have been working tirelessly to adapt to climate change and build resilience in their operations, but instead of trusting them with the investments needed to improve their farms, big chocolate is abandoning them, leaving them in economic, societal, and environmental peril.

“It’s up to chocolate lovers to demand accountability. Do we want to eat real cocoa grown in real soil by real people? Or do we want to eat synthetic, imitation, or lab-grown cocoa that lets the industry off the hook and leaves farmers in the dust?”