Choc-tastic news alert! Côte d’Ivoire has just announced that its cocoa farmers will finally benefit from sky-high market prices, receiving 50% more for cocoa for the rest of the season. While this is amazing news for farmers, the situation isn’t as sweet as it might seem. Here’s the full low-down.. 

At the start of every cocoa season, the government in Côte d’Ivoire sets a minimum cocoa price, offering farmers stability while market prices go down and up (and down again). Halfway through the season, this national farmgate price is reassessed for the remaining months. And yesterday, it jumped to about €2,287 per metric ton, matching the Living Income Reference Price (LIRP).  

So why are cocoa prices up? ’Cause supply is shockingly low due to the negative effects of climate change. Together with the fact that farmers have been structurally underpaid for the past decades, forcing them to live in poverty and leaving them unable to invest in the maintenance of their plantation. And so while cocoa farmers are getting more, they’re selling less. Which means it’s still impossible for millions of them to earn a living income.  

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: the true solution to exploitation in cocoa lies in combining all 5 of our Tony’s 5 Sourcing Principles – no cherry picking.