Cocoa

Certified Chocolate is a Treat for Kids and The Environment

In the week leading up to Halloween, households around the United States prepare for the inevitable onslaught of trick-or-treaters by shoring up their store of chocolate -- 90 million pounds of it to be precise. But before these bags of ghoulish goodies arrive at neighborhood supermarkets throughout the country, just where was all of that cocoa cultivated, and how does its production impact people and the environment around the world?

Native to South America, cocoa (Theobroma cacao) is now grown predominately in West Africa and Southeast Asia, along with Brazil and Ecuador. An ideal crop for conservation, cocoa can flourish under the shade of native canopy trees. Unfortunately, many cocoa farmers have abandoned the traditional method of growing cocoa under tall trees and begun clearing land to grow cocoa trees in the sun. While this may increase yields, it's far from sustainable. When forest is cut to grow cocoa, the results are wildlife habitat loss, soil erosion and decreased soil fertility. In addition, sun-grown cocoa requires agrochemical use.

Read more about certified chocolate.

Find Rainforest Alliance Certified™ chocolate at a store near you.

Learn how cocoa beans are transformed into chocolate treats.

Sustainable Cocoa Brings Sweet Benefits to Workers and Wildlife

After working with our partners in the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) to introduce farmers throughout Latin America to sustainable methods of growing coffee, the Rainforest Alliance began working with cocoa farmers in Ecuador. Just like coffee, cocoa can thrive under the shade of the forest canopy, where it supports biodiversity by providing habitat for threatened plant and animal species, protecting natural pollinators and cocoa pest predators, and creating biological corridors. In 2006, Edward Millard came to the Rainforest Alliance to grow our cocoa program after having worked for Oxfam Fair Trade and Conservation International. In the past three years, he has played an integral role in its rapid expansion in Africa. Just how rapid? Sales of Rainforest Alliance Certified™ cocoa grew from $4.5 million in 2007 to $16.75 million in 2008. We sat down with Millard to discuss the program's development and find out where it's headed.

Read about Millard's plans for cocoa development in 2010.

Rainforest Alliance
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Telephone: (888)-MY EARTH
canopy@ra.org