Cocoa prices fluctuate greatly and its cultivation often harms the environment. Many cocoa farmers cannot even cover their production costs with their earnings. Cocoa is therefore a critical raw material for Coop, and we actively commit to fair and sustainable cocoa production.
Cocoa sold under Coop's own-label brands must be certified to Fairtrade Max Havelaar or Bio Suisse standards. This does not apply to cocoa sold under Coop's Prix Garantie own-label brand, which must, as a minimum, be certified to Rainforest Alliance standard.
In 2014, we launched the Fairtrade cocoa programme and have continued to expand our commitment to fair cocoa ever since. Fairtrade cocoa means greater financial stability for small-scale farmers and more self-determination in the democratically structured cooperatives. Thanks to the Fairtrade premiums, investments can be made in the education and healthcare infrastructure or in improving cultivation conditions.
We source 75% of the cocoa contained in Coop own-label brands from our subsidiary Halba. The cocoa beans come exclusively from Fairtrade-certified Halba projects. Cocoa butter and cocoa powder also come from other suppliers and must be certified in accordance with Rainforest Alliance, Fairtrade or Bio Suisse.
100% of our own-label brand chocolate products are currently Fairtrade-certified. This is partly enabled by the fact that our production company Halba works directly with Fairtrade cooperatives in Ecuador, Ghana, Honduras and Madagascar.
In these local projects in Ecuador, Ghana, Honduras and Madagascar, the cocoa is grown according to environmental and social criteria. These include measures to protect the rainforest. Furthermore, the project relies on organic cultivation methods, which have a positive impact on biodiversity. Hardwood trees and other local crops are also planted on the plantations. They protect the cocoa plants from pests, from the sun and from drying out. They also offer an additional, long-term income to help cushion fluctuations in the productivity of the cocoa plants.
Halba transforms the cocoa harvested through these projects into products such as chocolate bars, which are available in our sales outlets and online.
We are the first Swiss company to gradually introduce the expanded Fairtrade labels as of May 2018. The "Fairtrade Sourced Ingredient" product label means that individual ingredients grown and traded in line with fair trade principles can also be certified. The Fairtrade Sourcing Programmes are available for almost all raw materials classified as critical by Coop. Thanks to these Fairtrade ingredients, farmers and workers in the southern regions can generate higher sales at Fairtrade conditions, while consumers benefit from a broader Fairtrade range. The stringent Fairtrade standards remain unchanged.
Working closely with our subsidiary HALBA, we are committed to sustainable cocoa from Honduras. In this project, the cocoa is grown according to ecological and social criteria. These include measures to protect the rainforest. Furthermore, the project relies on organic cultivation methods, which impact positively on diversity.
Deciduous trees are also planted on the plantations. These protect the cocoa plants and also enable an additional, long-term income from selling the wood, to cushion fluctuations in the productivity of the cocoa plants. Training, the creation of an infrastructure for downstream processing steps and long-term, fair commercial relationships ensure better living conditions for the local cocoa farmers. The chocolate from this project, which is certified by Bio Suisse and Fairtrade Max Havelaar, has been available under Coop Naturaplan since 2013.