TL;DR

Cocoa and coffee are two plants with similar stories. Traditionally grown under the protection of a forest canopy in tropical regions, increasing demand has pushed both out into the sunlight (literally). The sun-grown crops produce faster than their shaded counterparts, but with decreased quality and for a shorter period of time. This type of monoculture has led to large-scale deforestation, soil erosion, and agrochemical pollution.

<aside> 💡 Most of the environmental impact from coffee and cocoa is due to land-use change, i.e. cutting down forests for cultivation.

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<aside> 💡 Demand for cocoa and coffee is higher than the rate at which supply can be sustainably renewed.

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Cocoa

Cocoa is a low-yield crop, relative to other fruit products. Of the stimulant crops, (coffee, tea, and tobacco) cocoa also offers the lowest financial returns for growers. Cacao farmers are paid by weight of dry beans and it takes 16 kg of cacao pods to produce 1 kg of dried cocoa beans. An average subsistence farm (two hectares) will produce 600 to 800 kg of cocoa beans per year.

After the cocoa fruit is harvested, the contents inside the pod are fermented—this removes the pulp and develops the chocolate flavors. After fermentation (aka curing) you are left with cocoa beans.

Since 2015/2016, cocoa production has increased from 3.9 million tons to a (forecasted) 4.8 million tons in 2020/21. To increase yields and shorten production time, many cocoa farmers are switching from traditional agroforestry over to full-sun monoculture. Monoculture cocoa production is a high GHG emitter, largely because of the intensive land use change involved. Agroforestry is better for the environment, but cocoa production is lower, slower and the output is more expensive for buyers.

Happy cocoa Shade from the sun, high humidity, uniform temperature, and protection from the wind...this means it grows best when it is planted under a rainforest canopy.

• Trees take 2-5 years to produce fruit, but it is better quality and the trees are productive for longer (25-30 years).
• Yield is lower than monocrops, at around 52% to 75%.).
• More resilient to changes in weather, less reliance on chemicals.
• Farmers seem to get better prices for this type of cocoa.

Image: Armengot et al., 2016

Sad cocoa To meet growing demand, farmers have started clearing forests to grow cocoa in the sun.

• Trees produce faster, but at a lower quality and for less time ("a few years"), the soil gets severely degraded, and trees are more susceptible to diseases...so farmers cut down more trees and the cycle continues (aka "burn and bust").
• It is not sustainable. Favorable conditions for growing cocoa are declining (areas are getting warmer and dryer) and eventually, this type of farming just won't work any longer.

Image: Armengot et al., 2016

Cacao trees are sensitive to disease and pests, and (especially in monoculture) high amounts of chemicals are used to increase production.

Cocoa consumption

Cocoa has a long supply chain because the countries growing cocoa are not the same countries that consume it. Dried cacao beans are shipped from the global south to factories in North America and Europe where processing and manufacturing takes place.

Source: Cacao Trace

Chocolate

Going from cocoa to chocolate is an energy-intensive process involving high amounts of electricity and heat. See this video for a very scientific explanation of cocoa processing.

Based on: COCOA PROCESSING (Food Technology Info, 2021)

• In the UK alone, Chocolate contributes 2.1 million tonnes of GHG to the atmosphere every year.
  • The footprint of chocolate production is largely impacted by the use of milk: 54-70% of its global warming potential.
    • In milk chocolate, milk powder is about 25% of the ingredients but represents up to 70% of the “global warming potential” (total GWP of raw materials [milk powder, cocoa derivatives, sugar, and palm oil] is 67-81%)
• It takes about ****1,000 liters of water to produce a single chocolate bar.
  • The majority of this is in the form of green water used in raw materials production. This is water that falls as precipitation, rather than being extracted from a freshwater resource. Green water is important for recharging soil moisture that is lost to agricultural practices.
    • It’s important to note that as temperatures rise and precipitation becomes more unreliable, we will see an increased reliance on irrigation in agriculture, especially in water-stressed regions.
  • Blue water: packaging (44-65%), raw materials (24-43%), and manufacturing processes (6-11%).
• Chocolate manufacturers don't know where their chocolate comes from.
  • "Mars, maker of M&M’s and Milky Way, can trace only 24 percent of its cocoa back to farms; Hershey, the maker of Kisses and Reese’s, less than half; Nestlé can trace 49 percent of its global cocoa supply to farms." (Washington Post, 2019)