Cocoa farmers and their communities face several complex challenges, including:
Productivity: limited knowledge of farming techniques, limited access to planting materials, pests and disease
Environmental: climate change, aging trees, unfertile soil
Social: limited access to education, gender inequality, fewer leadership roles for women
Financial: poverty, lack of access to finance
Cocoa Life is changing this.
Together, we create a movement to make cocoa, the essence of chocolate, right.
Cocoa Life is Mondelēz International’s global cocoa sustainability program.
As one of the world’s leading snacking companies, it is a major priority to make our most important ingredients, such as cocoa, right. Launched in 2012, Cocoa Life is a US$1 billion investment by Mondelēz International through to 2030 to help make cocoa sourcing more sustainable in key cocoa-producing countries.
Cocoa Life helps make cocoa right. It helps lift the people and protect the landscapes, with the aim of bringing dynamic change to communities and forests where the cocoa bean grows before it becomes the chocolate for the snacks the world loves.
“With our US$1 billion total investment between 2012 and 2030, we are in a unique position to apply 10 years of progress and learnings. Cocoa Life believes in smart innovation and collaboration for transformational impact. With our partners, we support farmers, communities and their landscapes through actions like Targeted Good Agricultural Practices, Payment for Environmental Services and Community Action Plans."
Cedric van Cutsem, Senior Director Cocoa Life, Mondelēz International
By 2025, we aim for 100% of cocoa volumes for Mondelēz International chocolate brands to be sourced through Cocoa Life1. We also have a goal to further increase our cocoa volume scale and reach around 300,000 farmers by 2030.
“Cocoa Life is on a long-term journey to help create a vibrant, strong cocoa supply chain while growing opportunities to help transform the livelihoods of farmers and their communities. We believe that empowered, thriving cocoa communities are the essential foundation for more sustainable cocoa."
Cathy Pieters, VP Sustainable Ingredients & Cocoa Life, Mondelēz International
- Goal for cocoa volume sourced is based on a mass balance approach, which means that the equivalent volume of cocoa needed for the products sold under our chocolate brands is sourced from the Cocoa Life program. ↩
We have a vision to make cocoa right.
That's why our mission is to lead cocoa sector transformation by driving holistic solutions that address root causes and create systemic, lasting change. We do this by implementing our own holistic program in partnership with others, sharing what we've learned on the journey, and by advocating for policy change.
We are creating a movement for lasting change, rooted in deep understanding, sector-wide collaboration and partnership.
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We focus our efforts on the three areas where we can help make the most difference: more sustainable cocoa farming businesses; empowered cocoa communities; conserved and restored forests.
Making cocoa right means helping to tackle the complex challenges that cocoa farmers face. Cocoa Life has innovative ways to do this and help meet the growing demand for more sustainably sourced cocoa so that by 2030 we can achieve our goals to:
- Increase number of farming households reaching a living income
- Enhance child protection systems and enable access to quality education in Cocoa Life communities
- Seek no deforestation on Cocoa Life farms globally
Learn more
A sustainable cocoa supply begins with empowered cocoa farmers
Integrity and accountability are as important as sun and water
Partnership is the key to lasting change
Efficient farming practices lead to financial security
The work of children is education and play
Gender equality benefits everyone
Conserving the land and forests is a promise to future generations
COCOA LIFE: COCOA MADE RIGHT
Mondelēz International is making the commitment to responsible cocoa even more clear through its chocolate brands. Choosing the Cocoa Life logo means everyone can love our chocolate as much as we do, because it’s made the right way.
We are proud of how far we’ve come to help these communities thrive and Mondelēz International’s chocolate is a testament to this work. We are determined to do more and bring you closer to the cocoa farming communities where your chocolate comes from.
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PROGRESS BLOG
10 Stories for 10 Years of Moving Cocoa Forward Together