More than 40 Swiss cocoa industry participants have joined together to boost the sustainable cocoa market.
The Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa, which aims to create “market pull” for sustainably sourced cocoa, has announced a goal that by 2025, at least 80 per cent of the cocoa-containing products imported into Switzerland should come from sustainable cultivation.
Switzerland is now the third country after the Netherlands and Germany where the chocolate and confectionery industry has committed to a clear target for the sourcing of sustainable cocoa.
Founding members include Barry Callebaut, the industry association CHOCOSUISSE, manufacturers, importers, and distributors of cocoa-containing products, Swiss retailers, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), non-profit organisations and research institutions.
Barry Callebaut's Switzerland general manager Raphael Felenbok said: "This platform will play a key role in creating the market pull for sustainably sourced products. This is good news for Barry Callebaut's plan to make sustainable chocolate the norm by 2025, it is good news for Carma which is already 100 per cent UTZ certified, and it is good news for the entire Swiss chocolate industry".
