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All Boni chocolate tablets are now contributing to living income for cocoa farmers

All Boni chocolate tablets are now contributing to living income for cocoa farmers

Monday, October 21, 2024

From now on, all standard 100 g and 200 g Boni Selection chocolate tablets in the Colruyt, Okay, Spar Colruyt Group and Comarkt/Comarché stores come from a direct chain in which Colruyt Group works together with Fairtrade, Rikolto and Puratos, among others. This sustainable partnership started in 2020 and is designed to offer cocoa farmers in Ivory Coast and other countries a living income. Four years ago, the Boni 72% chocolate tablet was already a first result of this collaboration and since this spring, the project has been scaled up to all standard 100 g and 200 g Boni tablets. The brand-new packaging is currently being introduced gradually in the Colruyt Group stores. They bear the "Lekker Bezig" label, to make them extra recognisable to customers, who will now be able to make even more conscious choices. The expansion was highlighted with an original event in the Antwerp train station this morning. Thursday, the same sampling will be organised in the Liège station.

Wider sustainable chocolate range according to "Living Income"

Attentive customers may have noticed it in Colruyt Group's food stores: gradually, the chocolate department is starting to look slightly different for the private labels. The entire 100 g and 200 g Boni chocolate tablets is currently being changed to new packaging, with the "Lekker Bezig" label. There's a very specific reason for this: all the chocolate in this packaging comes from the "Living Income" project. This project strives for a living income for cocoa farmers, among other things.

Nine additional tablets were added to the existing Boni 72% dark tablet - that was already being produced as part of the Living Income project - at the various Colruyt Group stores (Colruyt Lowes Prices, Okay, Spar Colruyt Group and CoMarkt) this spring: from the dark Boni chocolate with hazelnuts to the white crispi chocolate*. The further improvement of the sustainability of this range is highlighted with a large sampling action in a few Belgian train stations: Antwerp today and Liège on Thursday. Travellers can take a Boni chocolate tablet to continue their trip tastefully.

The expansion in the stores and the new packaging will make sure that customers can make more conscious choices in the chocolate department even more easily. Karen Janssens, responsible for making the chocolate range at Colruyt Group more sustainable: "Sustainable choices are becoming more and more the norm in our stores: it's no longer a special chocolate tablet to look for in the store. We make the choice simple. Customers can enjoy a delicious (filled) chocolate tablet, and together we can help cocoa farmers on their way towards a living income. Without asking for more effort or budget from the customer.”

Living Income: striving for a living income for cocoa farmers

After signing the Beyond Chocolate Charter in 2018, Colruyt Group started its own chain collaboration in Ivory Coast in 2020, together with many other partners. In this three-year project, 102 farmer families from Ivory Coast supplied the cocoa for the Boni 72% dark chocolate tablet. This chocolate tablet has been available on Colruyt Group shelves since 2020. We started with an annual purchase of 100 tonnes of cocoa, for which we paid a living income reference price (LIRP).

Philippe Weiler, CEO of Fairtraide, explains: "Concretely, this means that on top of the market rate, the Fairtrade minimum price is paid, a quality bonus, and Colruyt Group also adds a "living income differential". That total price goes directly to the farmer. The cooperative also receives a fairtrade premium to invest in community projects." Together with Rikolto, Fairtrade and Puratos, Colruyt Group is now scaling up the project to the entire Boni chocolate tablet range, to increase the impact even more. Karen Janssens: The Living Income Reference Price (LIRP) for cocoa beans is used for all Boni 100 g and 200 g chocolate tablets. Today, the price for cocoa is high but ours is a long-term commitment, i.e. also if the cocoa market collapses again."

It's a broad approach, in which several parties involved want to contribute to the viability of the cocoa sector. Because everything starts with this fair price of course, but that alone is not enough. "We are also focusing on planting additional forest in and around the plantations and maximising productivity: helping farmers be ready to face big challenges such as climate change and soil fertility. We also focus on training. With this model, we want to inspire other actors in the sector and Ivory Coast to make the sector more sustainable together", says Karen Janssens. An impact study ordered by Colruyt Group and carried out by Impact Institute, shows that income from cocoa increased by 38%, and the average income of farmer households increased by 31%.

This will also be one of the themes on the General Meeting of Beyond Chocolate later today in Antwerp: despite the unprecedented high cocoa price, cocoa farmers are usually still confronted with poverty. Charles Snoeck of Beyond Chocolate says: "If farmers can't get a higher price for their cocoa, they can't structurally invest in their plantation. As a result, productivity and therefore proceeds remain low, and plantations are not very resistant to climate change for example. We need better price models for cocoa farmers. The Living Income Reference Price is a good first step towards this, and of course we are delighted that Colruyt Group has scaled up the project to a much wider range of Boni chocolate tablets. We hope that other players will follow their example."

Sustainable ambitions

Since the beginning of this year, the more sustainable chocolate range has been scaled up from the 72% chocolate tablet to the entire range of 100 g and 200 g Boni chocolate tablets. To make the chocolate range even more sustainable, Colruyt Group also joined Tony's Open Chain, including for its seasonal chocolate. "This way, we fulfil our commitment to gradually have the Boni Bio tablets (as from 2025), the seasonal chocolate (St Nicolas and Easter 2025) and pralines comply with the Living Income principle as well", Karen Janssens explains.


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* Available chocolate range under Living Income:

  • BONI Ivory Coast dark 72% FT 100g (tablet existing since 2020)
  • BONI dark hazelnuts FT 200g
  • BONI dark praline FT 200g
  • BONI milk praline FT 200g
  • BONI milk whole hazelnuts FT 200g
  • BONI milk caramel sea salt FT 200g
  • BONI milk spiced biscuit paste FT 200g
  • BONI milk crunchy spiced biscuit FT 200g
  • BONI white praline FT 200g
  • BONI white crispri FT 200g

 

Terminology

  • Living income
    ​'Living income' is the net annual income a family in a specific place needs to be able to give all the family members a decent living standard. Elements of a decent living standard are: food, water, housing, education, health care, transport, clothes and other essential needs, including a buffer for unexpected events.
    ​
  • Living Income Reference Price: This is not a label, but a recommended price. The Living Income Reference Price (LIRP) is the price that is needed for an average household with a certain (liveable) agricultural land (4 ha in cocoa) and a certain productivity (800 kg/ha in cocoa) to obtain a living income by selling their cocoa. Determined by Fairtrade based on the Anker&Anker methodology.