WILD CHOCOLATE AND SUSTAINABILITY
1. NATURE
Wild Chocolate saves rainforest from being felled and burned.
All other types of chocolate than Wild Chocolate begin its existence as a piece of tropical rainforest being felled and turned into a plantation.
Wild Chocolate is being produced from cocoa from wild cacao trees growing inside the Amazon rainforest. They are being gathered by the indigenous people of the forest communities.
The rainforest is not affected by our consumption of Wild Chocolate. Its biodiversity is being preserved, and we avoid that the forest is being turned into plantations.
2. CO2 EMISSIONS
Wild Chocolate saves 65% CO2 emissions compared to other types of chocolate.
Looking at the CO2 emissions from the production of 1 kg of “normal” chocolate, it is clear that it is the damages to nature and the plantation farming that causes its high level of CO2 emission of 7,86 kg.
Source: denstoreklimadatabase.dk
For the Wild Chocolate, CO2 from damages to nature is absent, as there are no damages. CO2 from farming is likewise absent, as there is no farming.
Source: LCA
The result is a strongly reduced CO2 emission compared to the “normal” chocolate. The reduction amounts to 75%; however as the data basis for Wild Chocolate is more limited and therefore potentially less reliable, we express this as “at least 65%” in respect for the consumers and of the EU Directive 2024/825 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices.
3. PEOPLE
Our tropical forests are much better protected when the peoples of the forests can have a livelihood from the forest and thus stay living in the forests if they wish to.
We believe in treating other people well and with respect. In particular when it comes to the people producing the raw material for the food that we enjoy, since these people often live in the periphery of the world.
This is in particular the case with people farming or gathering cacao.
The wild cacao trees grows in the most damp parts of the rainforest. Therefore, these communities are further out than where the road stops.
To some of the communities it is not possible to go by car, and to most of the other communities it is impossible to visit by car in the 4-5 months of the rainy season, even though there may be a dirt road.
The bottom line is, that for many of the communities, the income from the wild cacao is their only income in the 4-5 months of the wet season, as no tourists can visit them and almost no other produce than the wild cacao beans can be transported out of the forest communities.
4. THE MIGRATION EFFECT
When the people in the forests and in the rural districts cannot have a satisfacory livelihood where they live, then the migration begins. The effect of the migration process is, that millions of people are every year doubling their CO2-emissions.
When the people in the outskirts of the world – those who produce the raw materials for our food – cannot have a satisfactory livelihood where they live, then the migration process is having a heavy kick forward.
They will of course be moving in the hope of a better life for them and their children.
This Migration Process causes the people affected to move from areas with a low level of CO2-emissions to areas with a much higher level. For millions of people, this means a 10-fold increase in CO2-emissions.
We are proud that the income from the wild cocoa beans empower hundreds of families to be able to take the decision of staying in the forest or not, by themselves. We hope that we, in the future, together can make this number into thousands of families.
DO YOU WANT TO BE PART OF THE WILD CHOCOLATE PROJECT? MORE INFORMATION?
Contact:
Peder Schjødt
Sustainability & Products
(+45) 2535 1488
ps@foodbynature.org
Contact:
Helena Lindemark
Sustainability Strategies
(+46) 76 555 74 50
helena@amazonasforlife.com