Eating 'green' chocolate: an analysis of consumer understandings, environmental communication and sustainability in the chocolate supply chain

This paper examines the notion of sustainability in the specific context of chocolate. Current market trends indicate that demand for chocolate remains strong in Europe and North America and that it is growing across Asia.... [ view full abstract ]

This paper examines the notion of sustainability in the specific context of chocolate. Current market trends indicate that demand for chocolate remains strong in Europe and North America and that it is growing across Asia. Analysts have also noted that there is a growing market for chocolate produced in a socially and environmentally responsible way, by which they mean more demand for products certified as Fairtrade and/or organic. What impact do such changes have on sustainability practices and on producers and consumers? What sustainability lessons can be drawn from the case of chocolate? The analysis answers these questions by taking an anthropological perspective on these issues. It is based on long-term qualitative fieldwork with cocoa farmers and an extensive desk-review of media, policy and corporate discourses on ethical and environmental consumption. The paper aims to show that there are many complex layers of reality which need to be understood in order to establish what ‘green’ and ‘sustainable’ chocolate actually looks like. It argues that certification schemes presently rely on a very limited definition of sustainability which fails to capture key environmental issues and to engage consumers towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. For example, most current certification scheme have particular labour standards and requirements regarding the use of chemical inputs. However, they do not incorporate notions such as water usage or waste along the supply chain and yet these are of critical importance. Some sources claim that growing 1 kg of cocoa requires an estimated 20,000 litres of water. In addition to this, water is used in the manufacturing process, making the overall water footprint of chocolate high relative to many other products, therefore the water footprint of chocolate should be an important consideration. However, providing absolute figures on this is not possible because a complex product such as chocolate does not have a fixed water footprint; there are many different types of chocolate ranging from white to very dark and a variable cocoa content means a variable water footprint. Furthermore, cocoa can be either rain-fed or irrigated, and these systems have different environmental implications. This illustrates the complexity of conveying sustainability information to consumers and the need for an alternative conceptualisation of what sustainable consumption means in this context. The paper concludes with practical suggestions on the way in which sustainability can be communicated to consumers and illustrates that consumers making more informed choices need not be complex and difficult, as is often claimed. Key words: chocolate, ethical production/consumption, sustainability