The undersigned companies (Ferrero, Nestlé, Tony’s Chocolonely) and civil society organisations (Fairtrade International, Fair Trade Advocacy Office, International Cocoa Initiative, IDH, Rainforest Alliance, Solidaridad, VOICE Network) in the cocoa and chocolate sector have consistently supported the principles behind the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) which, we believe, represents an important step forward in driving the necessary transformation of the cocoa and chocolate sector and in making human rights and environmental due diligence the norm in global value chains. While the company signatories all have their own programmes addressing key human rights and environmental issues, voluntary efforts by themselves will not be sufficient; legislation that levels the playing field and makes due diligence the norm is needed.

We welcome the aim of simplifying reporting obligations under the CSDDD and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, but we believe that a number of the proposed amendments to the CSDDD included in the Omnibus proposal published by the European Commission on 26 February will in practice make companies’ implementation of their obligations more difficult, and undermine some of the fundamental aims of the Directive.

Negative impacts arising from human rights violations and environmental damage pose a real threat to the supply chains for products on which our companies depend – primarily cocoa beans produced by smallholder farmers. The CSDDD as adopted has the potential to help companies in our sector, and their supply-chain partners, develop more secure and sustainable supply chains for the long term; some of the proposed amendments undermine this, and will not support the emergence of a level playing field for responsible business conduct.

The proposed amendments that undermined the CSDDDs effectiveness include

• Focus on direct suppliers is not risk-based
• Responsible disengagement has been removed
• Monitoring has been weakened
• Member states’ ambition has been blocked

Read the full statement here.

On March 4, 116 participants joined our webinar on Good Governance for a Living Income in Cocoa.

Pleased find here some highlights from the discussion and the recording in English, French and Spanish.

In brief, three key messages came out of the discussion:

• Transparency and accountability are paramount: misinformation must be fought with open, clear communication, especially around price setting mechanisms.
• It is critical to involve farmers and civil society in decision making and policy conversations, as well as support their self-organization. The cocoa sector is too top-down.
• Going further, collaboration with all stakeholders is essential: other cocoa producing countries about governance and supply management, consuming governments, private sector, civil society and farmers.

As a sector, it truly is time to start building a new governance system that can tackle the complex and intertwined sustainability issues in the sector. We look forward to continuing the discussion!

We’re excited to share that the Cocoa Income Inventory (CII), developed by IDH, VOICE, and Wageningen University & Research (WUR) is officially live! This new platform offers a structured, anonymized space where cocoa sector data can be shared in an accessible and transparent manner. The CII is designed to support stakeholders across the industry by providing validated, aggregated data to help drive informed decision-making and foster sector-wide improvements.

Why the CII Matters:

• Standardized and Accessible Data: For years, essential cocoa farming data has been collected but not always shared transparently. The CII provides a common platform where stakeholders — including companies, NGOs, policymakers, farmers, and researchers — can access aggregated, anonymized data without compromising commercial interests. By standardizing data collection, it ensures insights are comparable and reliable.
• Fostering Collaboration and Efficiency: One of the challenges in the cocoa sector is duplicated efforts in research and intervention design. The CII helps address this by promoting collaboration and reducing redundancy. Organizations can now leverage shared data, learn from each other’s successes and failures, and apply insights more effectively, resulting in more impactful strategies and better use of resources.
• Supporting Sector-Wide Improvements: The CII works in synergy with the Cocoa Household Income Study (CHIS), a rigorous methodology for collecting standardized income data across cocoa farming households. While CHIS provides the framework for data collection, the CII ensures that this data is shared in a harmonized and publicly accessible way. This alignment will help stakeholders make more informed decisions and implement interventions that drive sector-wide improvements in living incomes and sustainability.
• A New Benchmark for Data Sharing: As more organizations contribute their data, the CII will evolve into a key benchmark for best practices in data-sharing and transparency in the cocoa sector. By adhering to standardized practices and ensuring anonymity, the platform provides a robust resource for stakeholders to assess the effectiveness of various interventions and policies.

What’s Next?

• The CII will continue to grow as more data is shared and integrated from different regions and seasons. We aim to regularly update the platform, ensuring it remains relevant and valuable for ongoing decision-making.
• Through collaboration with key industry events and sessions, we will further discuss insights from the data, ensuring its full potential is realized and applied effectively in shaping the future of the cocoa sector.

Check out the inventory here (best viewed on desktop) and feel free to reach out to us with feedback or if you’d like more details. Also, please do reach out if you have a dataset you’d like to share. Your input is invaluable as we continue to improve and expand this resource.

By creating a space for transparent, evidence-based insights, the CII aims to help the cocoa sector reach new heights of sustainability and social impact. As more organizations join the platform, we look forward to driving meaningful change in the industry.

We are hiring! Come and join our incredibly effective and fun global team!

Are you mission-driven and a real ‘getting things done’ person? Then we’d love to get to know you.

VOICE is hiring a Head of Strategic Partnerships (3/4 days a week), based in West Africa and a Project Officer (2/3 days a week) based in the Netherlands.

Job postings close on April 7th.

Launch webinar on March 4 at 14:30 CET

The Cocoa Barometer Consortium has just released its new publication focusing on which governance policies are more effective than others in creating an enabling environment conducive to smallholder farmer incomes.

Join us for an online launch webinar, including a presentation of the key findings and a panel discussion, on March 4th, from 14:30-16:00 CET. This webinar will be in English and French with simultaneous interpretation.

Register for the webinar here.

Fairtrade International has published a new Living Income Reference Price (LIRP) for cocoa from Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire on 29 January 2025. The price is lower than the mandatory farm-gate prices set by the Ghanaian and Ivorian governments. It is also based on assumptions of achievable yield that are unrealistically high with current climate conditions, soil depletion, inputs costs, labour shortage, etc. The Voice Network believes this step does not contribute to the fundamental farmers’ right to a living income.

Read the full statement here.

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In the light of the discussion around the ‘Omnibus’ regulation, a large number of chocolate sector actors (including companies Nestlé, Mars, Mondelez, Ferrero, Hershey and Tony’s Chocolonely, as well as NGOs, sustainability standards and other organisations), united in the Cocoa Coalition today urges the European Commission to not modify any elements of the CSDDD, nor to reopen it for renegotiation by the co-legislators, but to focus on the preparations as required in the CSDDD.

https://voicenetwork.cc/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Statement-on-Omnibus-proposal-200125.pdf

As the Child Labor in Cocoa Coordinating Group launches its new 2024-2029 Framework of action, the Child Labor Coalition, the VOICE Network, the Ivorian Platform for Sustainable Cocoa and the Ghana Civil-society Cocoa Platform welcome this new framework but regret the limited number of civil society consultations in the process. If this process is to garner credibility moving forward, rightsholders will have to be brought to the table in a meaningful way. Read the full statement here in English or French.

Our sister organisation VOCAL is looking for a coordinator to help develop their work. This exciting opportunity will allow you to build a cutting edge civil society collaboration in the coffee space, working closely with the VOICE staff.
More information can be found in the job posting here.

Full statement here. Text copied below.

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The Cocoa Coalition, which comprises companies and civil society and other organisations in the cocoa and chocolate sector,* has consistently supported the introduction of the EUDR.

We welcome the publication of the guidance and updated FAQ document by the European Commission on 2 October. We will study them closely, and look forward to further clarifications as soon as possible.

We note the Commission’s proposal to delay implementation by twelve months, and call for this to be adopted as speedily as possible, without amendment, in order to give companies as much certainty as possible on the revised timetable.

We strongly oppose reopening the substance of the EUDR for new negotiations, and urge policymakers to resist any such suggestion. This would serve only to impede the smooth passage of the proposal, increase uncertainty and jeopardise the significant investments our member companies have made in preparing for its application.

We also call on the Commission, member states and the corporate sector to provide appropriate support for the implementation of the EUDR for smallholder farmers and their organisations so that the costs of compliance are not passed to them and they are not excluded from the EU market due to a lack of resources.

* The Cocoa Coalition consists of companies (Ferrero, The Hershey Company, Mars Wrigley, Mondelēz International, Nestlé, Tony’s Chocolonely, Unilever), and civil society and other organisations (Fairtrade International, Fair Trade Advocacy Office, International Cocoa Initiative, IDH, Rainforest Alliance, Solidaridad, VOICE Network). See here for more information.