Barry Callebaut Joins the Sustainable Coconut Partnership 

Barry Callebaut, a leading chocolate manufacturer, has announced its participation as a founding member of the Sustainable Coconut Partnership, an industry platform aimed at promoting responsible coconut production and market transformation at scale. 

The Sustainable Coconut Partnership wants to address significant challenges in coconut production, particularly in sourcing countries such as the Philippines, where farmers face numerous hurdles that threaten their livelihoods, including limited access to finance, poor agricultural practices, extreme weather events, lack of access to technology, and limited market knowledge. The initiative brings together buyers, processors, and other actors actively involved in the coconut supply chain to collaboratively find solutions and share investment approaches that establish cost-effective sustainable coconut value chains and support farmers’ livelihoods. The Sustainable Coconut Partnership aims to drive positive impacts for farmers’ livelihoods, the climate, and the environment, and promote sustainable coconut production practices through the Sustainable Coconut Charter.

Coconut trees offer significant benefits to the environment, economy, and communities that rely on them, making sustainable coconut production a critical topic in the chocolate industry. However, the global coconut supply is declining, and farmers in sourcing countries such as the Philippines, who are mostly smallholders, face significant challenges that threaten their livelihoods. These challenges include limited access to finance, poor agricultural practices, extreme weather events, lack of access to technology, and limited market knowledge, which are compounded by fragmented supply chains.