Sustainability

Cocoa on tree

Our position on cocoa sustainability

We are committed to cocoa sourcing. That is why our proprietary couverture chocolate is made using Rainforest Alliance Certified™ cocoa and cocoa butter, both of which are fully traceable. Other chocolate companies may say on their labels or in their marketing that their chocolate is made using sustainable cocoa, but what about the cocoa butter? What greater good is really being served when only a portion of the cocoa ingredients are sustainably sourced? It's less bad, but not 100% good.

So what exactly is couverture chocolate? Couverture chocolate is real chocolate, the finest quality of chocolate which contains added cocoa butter, which is fat derived from the cocoa bean. Cocoa butter the most expensive ingredient in chocolate which is why couverture chocolate is generally more expensive than other types of chocolate: it contains extra cocoa butter. As a vegetable fat, cocoa butter is amazing — it is solid at room temperature, melts at below body temperature, and it has a crystalline structure that is polymorphic. This means that  the fat crystals in the cocoa butter behave differently at different temperatures. Like steel, couverture chocolate must be tempered in order to harden to a shiny finish. Learn how to temper couverture chocolate

We’ve compiled the most-asked questions about cocoa sustainability in our FAQs page. If you have any questions or want a deeper conversation, please contact us.

Woman holding handful of cocoa

Does sustainable chocolate taste better?

We think it does, and maybe it feels better too. Buying chocolates made with Rainforest Alliance Certified™ cocoa and cocoa butter helps drive positive change in West Africa, where almost 70% of the world’s cocoa supply is grown by farmers, mostly women, who face many labour, economic, and environmental challenges.

Cocoa & Forests Initiative (CFI)

In Spring 2017 Cococo was pleased to help lead 33 of the globe’s leading cocoa and chocolate companies, as well as the governments of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, in implementing the Cococo and Forests Initiative to help end rainforest deforestation in West Africa. Read Cococo's 2019 Cocoa & Forests Initiative action here.
The World Cocoa Foundation has several excellent educational videos about how the Cocoa & Forests Initiative is working to cause change in the cocoa sector.
Cocoa & forests initiative
About Cococo
Cococo's Vision & Values