Cocoa – The Green Tau

25th September 2026

Shortages of cocoa beans invariably leads to higher prices for the beans and that usually means even higher prices increase for chocolate.

Whilst chocolate is made from cocoa beans, other ingredients come too. The cocoa beans themselves, after fermenting and drying, roasting and crushing, are finally ground to separate the oily part of the bean from the mass. The former is the coco butter and the later the cocoa solid or powder. These two are then recombined along with sugar, sometimes milk and various flavourings.

One way in which manufacturers can reduce costs is by replacing some of the cocoa butter with palm oil. Palm oil is cheap to buy (although its cost in terms of damage to the environment is high) and it easily replicates the melt-in-the-mouth texture of cocoa butter. It is also a more tolerant ingredient and makes the ‘tempering’ of the chocolate easier.

However using palm oil rather than cocoa butter doesn’t reward the cocoa farmer.

For those of us who can afford to do so, we can be selective in choosing which chocolate we eat. Ethical Consumer regularly updates its rating of different chocolate manufacturers.

https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/food-drink/shopping-guide/ethical-chocolate

https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/palm-oil/palm-oil-free-chocolate

Cocoa and chocolate terms defined – https://www.global-organics.com/2019/11/22/chocolate-and-cocoa-terms-defined/

24th September 2026

Cocoa plants are particularly susceptible to unseasonable weather, especially intensive rainfall and drought. This has already impacted this year’s production and will continue to be an issue with the ongoing impact of El Niño. Most cocoa production comes from small farms, and at that scale the impact of a poor harvest can be difficult to cope with. Poor harvests impact both producers and consumers. Cocoa farmers have long suffered from low prices for their crops. To some extent this can be alleviated through Fair Trade certification whereby the farmers receive a guaranteed premium price.

However there are various other projects that seek to improve the profitability of small scale cocoa farms. These, for example, may include growing additional compatible crops such as yams, cassava, rice and poultry. Silviculture where taller growing trees provide shade and an additional crop, are a good solution. The RSPB sells chocolate made from cocoa grown in this way where a particular benefit is in providing restored forest habitats for native birds.

Shade grown cocoa farming is to be encouraged as a better option for soil health, climate and biodiversity, than the sadly frequent practice of deforestation where natural tropical forests are cleared to make space for cocoa plants.

Another approach is to manufacture the chocolate in the country of origin. This way a greater proportion of the money earned stays with the local communities.

Another potential source of income for the farmer is to recycle the cocoa pulp that surrounds the coco bean and which conventionally is discarded.

Further reading

Fairtrade chocolate – https://www.fairtrade.net/uk-en/products-and-producers/fairtrade-products/chocolate.html

RSPB chocolate – https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/news/the-power-of-forest-friendly-chocolate

https://shopping.rspb.org.uk/rspb-dark-drinking-chocolate.html

Cocoa and deforestation – https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/forests/chocolate-giants-fuel-deforestation-in-west-africas-last-rainforest/

https://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?15675941/Business-as-usual-cocoa-Is-driving-a-new-wave-of-global-forest-destruction-warns-new-WWF-report

And https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/22/cocoa-planting-is-destroying-protected-forests-in-west-africa-study-finds?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Chocolate manufactured in Africa – https://www.tasteatlas.com/best-rated-chocolates-in-africa

Reusing cocoa pulp – https://www.wri.org/insights/hidden-benefits-cacao-waste

From bean to bar: how chocolate is produced – https://worldcocoafoundation.org/from-bean-to-bar