Lindt & Sprungli Extends Sustainable Cocoa Production

Lindt & Sprungli is substantially upscaling and extending its farming program in Ghana. Until 2016, more than 45,000 cocoa farmers in Ghana will receive additional support in improving their agricultural, social and environmental farming practices, aiming at more than doubling productivity yield and increasing farm family income considerably.

The Lindt & Sprungli farming program will include the introduction of detailed farm mapping, a complete farmer professionalization training package and improved planting material through farmer-led nurseries. The farmers will have access to credit for necessary planting appliances in newly set-up farm shops. In each district, if not already in place, a Village Resource Center will be installed.

In 2012, 8,000 farmers benefited from a pilot program, followed by 15,000 farmers joining the program in 2013/2014, with an additional 25,000 farmers to follow over the three subsequent years. By 2016, Lindt & Sprungli plans to have the training program completed for all farmers in Ghana that deliver cocoa through the special purchasing model of Lindt & Sprungli.

Since 2008, Lindt & Sprungli has been involved in pioneering work in Ghana. Lindt & Sprungli sources 100 percent of its West African cocoa bean supply from Ghana because of the high quality of cocoa beans in the region. The purchasing model not only guarantees a consistent volume of the best-quality cocoa beans for Lindt & Sprungli but, through traceability, also the opportunity to positively influence local development. 

Lindt & Sprungli has invested more than $5 million in infrastructure and social projects via the nonprofit organization, Source Trust. Measures included the reconstruction of a school, the provision of mosquito nets, boreholes for access to clean drinking water, and the installation of Village Resource Centers equipped with computers, a printer and Internet access used by pupils and teachers alike for education and for farmer training programs.

The additional $10 million project is designed to increase young adults’ and women farmers’ access to services, while improving their knowledge and leadership skills. 

The aim of the Lindt & Sprungli farming program in Ghana is to improve the livelihood of the farmers, their families and the communities they live in, while assuring consistent high-quality beans for Lindt & Sprungli.

The program is supported by The Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH), an organization with the aim of accelerating sustainable trade. IDH is funded at the institutional level by the Dutch and Danish governments, and by SECO, the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs. Improving farmers’ livelihoods through the application of good agricultural practices and improving productivity is fully in line with IDH’s vision for the cocoa sector. 

Lindt & Sprungli is one of the few chocolate makers that have complete control over every step of the production chain, starting with the selection of the finest cocoa varieties from the best growing areas in the world right on through processing until ending with the packaging. To safeguard the uniform and consistently high quality of all Lindt & Sprungli chocolate products, all ingredients are thoroughly tested in owned laboratories before and after purchase, so that their quality constantly meets the highest standards.