Could Your Holiday Chocolate Gift Basket Be Contributing to Deforestation?

In North America and Europe, many people go on vacation in August, and chocolate is a common souvenir from these trips. I also recently received a gift basket of chocolates from a friend who had just returned from vacation. It was delicious—who wouldn’t love the divine taste of artisanal dark chocolate? But I couldn’t help but wonder if this delicious chocolate was causing deforestation in another part of the world. There was no way to tell from the packaging where it came from or if it was contributing to deforestation. It left me with a bittersweet feeling: an unpleasant combination of cocoa in my mouth and the idea that trees had been cut down for this chocolate.

Cocoa, the fruit from which chocolate is made, is a major driver of deforestation in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, two West African countries that produce 70% of the world’s cocoa supply. To meet this supply, many hectares of forest have been cleared. A recent study published in Nature using satellite imagery found that cocoa plantations were responsible for more than 37% of forest loss in protected forest areas. Forest areas are sometimes classified as protected because of the unique variety of trees and biodiversity they support, as well as their cultural value.

Fortunately, there are several steps underway to address forest loss to cocoa plantations, including those taken by countries, companies, and nonprofits, from commitments to certifications. Sure, there may be areas where work needs to be done to make them stronger, but there are reasons for optimism. Let’s look at some of these positive initiatives:

Regulations to stop deforestation are being implemented

The international community has committed to curbing deforestation. At COP 26, 144 countries committed to halting and reversing deforestation by 2030. Motivated by this global commitment, countries are beginning to take action to combat deforestation.

Some major chocolate importing regions are implementing new laws to stop imports from deforested areas. Europe passed a regulation last year, commonly known as the EUDR (European Union Deforestation Regulation), which is set to come into force in December 2024. Under the new regulation, EU imports must be deforestation-free, meaning they must not have contributed to deforestation in the EU or globally. Similarly, the UK has passed the Environment Act, which ensures that companies selling their products in the UK confirm that their products do not come from deforested areas. These regulations are a major step forward! Once they are in force, consumers who buy chocolate from these regions will be more confident that what they are buying is deforestation-free.

Unfortunately, not all major chocolate importing countries have implemented such legislation. For example, the Forest Act, which was intended to curb illegal deforestation, has yet to be passed in the United States. After failing once, it was reintroduced in November 2023. This delay has further exacerbated deforestation. Between October 2021 and November 2023, between the bill’s first introduction and its reintroduction, direct imports from the United States exposed the United States to 123,000 hectares of deforestation in tropical and subtropical countries. Industry nonprofits are urging the United States to urgently implement the Forest Act.

Deforestation-free certifications are increasing

Many large companies and non-profits have taken steps to combat deforestation in cocoa supply chains. They do this by using certification labels, which indicate that products are sustainably sourced. You may notice such certification labels on ice cream or chocolate brands in supermarkets. For example, in the UK, Magnum chocolate bars, a popular chocolate ice cream bar, feature a frog logo on the back cover, a Rainforest Alliance certification seal, indicating that they are deforestation-free and sustainably sourced.

Until now, most certifications have been voluntary, giving companies the choice not to obtain them. This option could explain why only 20 to 46% of chocolate produced worldwide is certified to voluntary standards, according to a 2022 Global Cocoa Market Report. This low certification rate also means that one in two chocolates could still be attributed to deforestation. However, while this figure is low, it is a significant step forward, as this figure has increased from around 1.5% in 2008.

Some companies may choose not to certify their production, as it requires resources and commitment. Certification requires that the beans used to produce the chocolate can be traced back to the farm where they came from, known as traceability. Traceability involves rigorous data collection and tracking at every point where cocoa is traded. Full traceability across the entire supply chain is often very difficult. According to a report examining the challenges of traceability in the cocoa sector, even some of the largest companies only have around 40 to 80 percent traceability in their supply chain. This means that only a certain percentage of the cocoa beans they buy can be traced back to the farm or cooperatives where they are purchased. Critics say that even in this figure, indirect suppliers and the first mile of trade of cocoa sales from farmers to cooperatives are not fully accounted for, so the figure presented by some large companies may not truly represent sustainable sourcing.

The size of the company is also important in understanding the extent to which it can take measures regarding traceability. It may be relatively easier for some of the larger chocolate companies to take measures to trace the cocoa supply chain than for smaller ones. For this reason, it is understandable that smaller companies may need more time to comply with the new regulations. For example, the EUDR regulations give small companies an additional year of time.

As more countries implement such regulations and companies certify their products, there may soon come a time when, no matter where your chocolate comes from, you can enjoy it without having to complain about the deforestation caused by growing cocoa beans. And who knows, this awareness of the sustainable origin of its sourcing could make chocolate taste even better!