Belgian fair trade chocolate
Colruyt Group has focused on sustainable cocoa for some time. All of our private label chocolate products have a sustainability label and, through two international chain projects, we buy cocoa directly from the farmers. We are also a member of the Belgian Beyond Chocolate sector platform that strives for sustainable and fair cocoa production.
At Colruyt Group we aim for 100% certified cocoa in all chocolate and chocolate products of our private labels such as Boni or Everyday. In addition, through international chain projects in Nicaragua and Ivory Coast, we buy cocoa directly from local cooperatives.
of our own chocolate products (Boni, Everyday) is certified
Boni: Fairtrade Sourced Ingredient label
Our Boni chocolate is FSI-certified: Fairtrade Sourced Ingredient. This label is used to indicate a single ingredient produced and sold under Fairtrade conditions, in this case cocoa. Fairtrade guarantees, among other things, good working conditions and a fixed minimum price for farmers. Our Boni Selection Bio-chocolate has both the Bio- as well as the Fairtrade label.
Everyday: Rainforest Alliance
The chocolate products of our Everyday brand carry the Rainforest Alliance-label. This certificate guarantees good and safe working conditions for cocoa producers, cultivation methods with a low impact on the environment and attention to biodiversity and nature conservation (deforestation, water pollution, waste management, etc.). The programme helps farmers who grow cocoa on a small scale to improve their cultivation methods to significantly improve the quality of their cocoa beans and productivity.
Livable income in Ivory Coast
In Ivory Coast, we built a new cocoa chain together with several partners (the IDH Sustainable Trade Initiative, producer Puratos, development organisation Rikolto, certification organisation Fairtrade, the University of Ghent, the Ivorian cooperative ECSP and the training centres Agro-Insight and Access Agriculture). Since 2020, we've been investing for (at least) three years in a sustainable cocoa chain for the Boni 72% dark chocolate bar. At the end of the project in the summer of 2023, we will be scaling up this model to the entire Boni chocolate bar range.
Our group started with the annual purchase of 100 tonnes of cocoa, for which we pay a living income reference price . On top of the market price, we pay a living income differential, a fair trade and quality premium and a chocolate bonus. Most of this additional price goes directly to the farmer. A portion goes to the cooperatives and the government so that they too can make the necessary investments. A livable income for cocoa farmers is also an objective of the Belgian Beyond Chocolate sector agreement which we co-signed in 2019.
Nicaragua: support for young cocoa farmers
Since 2017, we have also supported a chain project in cooperation with Rikolto in Nicaragua. We buy cocoa there directly from 200 young farmers, united in the La Campesina cooperative. We process this cocoa into Boni-chocolate (milk and fondant) which we offer for sale in our stores. Through our regular cocoa purchase, we help the farmers on the ground to organise themselves better. Through training and guidance - with the support of our Collibri Foundation - we help them to make quality, sustainable products. For the young people, this international chain project is also an extra motivation to continue cocoa farming.
