Beyond Chocolate is a sustainable Belgian chocolate industry project signed by more than 100 companies, NGOs, and public sector representatives. Project partners pledge to fully integrate the Sustainable Development Goals at the center of their business activities and to actively engage in multi-stakeholder partnerships. Beyond Chocolate is funded by the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and coordinated by IDH, Sustainable Trade Initiative.
The Belgian chocolate industry is one of the world's largest importers of cocoa beans. The main regions from which cocoa beans for Belgian chocolate are sourced are Africa, Latin America, and Asia. The Belgian chocolate industry has around 275,000 small-scale cocoa growers for annual chocolate production.
The Beyond Chocolate Project's goals include improving the income and working conditions of cocoa farmers with a special emphasis on gender issues, extending school education and eliminating child labor, making lasting improvements to crops in the face of climate change, protecting biodiversity, halting deforestation and promoting reforestation wherever possible.
The average cocoa farmer is far from making a living. Many families in cocoa-producing countries live below the poverty threshold, often leading to child labor and unfair working conditions. Moreover, poverty drives farmers to convert new land into protected areas, leading to a dramatic reduction in forest cover in West and Central Africa. The Beyond Chocolate Project is working to ensure that by 2030, cocoa farmers will earn a living wage that does not fall below the poverty threshold, while a minimum subsistence wage policy will ensure that in 2030, cocoa farmers will earn a living wage that does not fall below the poverty threshold.
IDH, the coordinator of the project, also has clear policies and codes on transparency and integrity, business processes, and the work environment. IDH prioritizes an open and transparent culture where everyone feels safe.