We are committed to long-term partnerships with cocoa farmers and their producer organizations like cooperatives in origin countries.
Our goal is to achieve the highest possible transparency and traceability of cocoa and improve the ecological, economic and social situation in cocoa cultivation through concrete, individual programs on-site in the countries of origin. We rely on a partnership model with farmers and producer organizations.
Therefore „Our Cocoa“ goes beyond mere certification and stands for our commitment to the countries of origin within the framework of partnerships.
In 2022, we supported about
85%
of our cocoa purchases through programs.
By 2025 our goal is to know where
100%
of our cocoa comes from.
We want to write
SUCCESS STORIES
Learn more about what we have already achieved with our programs.
Nicaragua
CACAO-NICA
Our commitment in Nicaragua goes back a long way in history. Since 1990, we have supported Nicaraguan smallholders in cocoa's sustainable cultivation as part of our Cacao-Nica program. What began over 30 years ago has grown into a partnership with over 4,200 farmers in around 20 different cooperatives.
Starting in 2014, we are working in long-term partnerships with 3 programs and 10 producing organizations in the Ivory Coast. Our cocoa from the Ivory Coast is also 100% certified. Ritter Sport is an early member of the German Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa (GISCO) and supports the Pro Planteur project in Ivory Coast.
Ghana is the world's second-largest producer of cocoa after neighboring Ivory Coast. Most of the approximately one million cocoa farmers in Ghana are smallholders who cultivate up to five hectares. In 2019, we began the first steps toward a new partnership by signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Cocoa Abrabopa Association (CAA) to establish a long-term collaboration between the more than 6,000 cocoa farmers of the CAA and us. Today CAA is a highly valued partner for sourcing our certified sustainable cocoa.
