Singapore Green Guardians Blog

Water 

Cacao trees require lots of water. It takes almost 30,000 quarts to make two pounds of cocoa beans. About 10,000 quarts are used just to transport and store these two pounds of beans on their long overseas journey to a factory. That’s a huge water footprint! 

People give boxes of chocolates as gifts. Bite-sized chocolates are often wrapped in foil or placed inside a plastic tray in a fancy box tied with a bow. This wrapping is not recyclable and ends up in the landfill. 

Host:

Does fair trade work? How much of a difference does it make, if any? Please welcome Brian and Ellie who will share their thoughts on the value of fair trade. Let’s start with Ellie. Tell us about fair trade.

Ellie:

Farmers and workers who join fair trade cooperatives agree to follow certain sustainable practices. This leads to certification and the right for their products to carry a fair trade label. Consumers are encouraged to purchase items with a fair trade label in order to help the industry.

Brian:

But labels don’t tell the whole story. Fair trade certification is a long and hard process. It costs money and these expenses come out of a farmer’s earnings. The poorest farmers can’t afford to participate, which defeats the purpose of “fair trade”.

Ellie:

Hold on. There are many benefits to fair trade, and the fees are affordable. They cover the costs of people who make sure that cacao farmers get a minimum living wage when the markets fall. These fees are used to teach sustainable farming methods. Money also goes towards improving community services like education, job training, and healthcare. Everyone wins.

Brian:

Well, it’s not easy to monitor if the funds are truly being used for these purposes. 

Host:

Let’s talk about working conditions. 

Ellie:

Fair trade makes sure every job is open to both men and women. But child labor is not allowed. It works with local authorities to keep children off the farms and out of the factories.  

Brian:

That’s all very well to say, but there is evidence that child labor is still happening, even on fair trade cacao farms in West Africa. Labor shortages, poverty, and school closings give children no choice but to work.

Host:

Now, let’s talk about prices. There is no doubt that the benefits for the growers and workers will raise prices along the supply chain. What about the costs passed to consumers? 

Ellie:

We all like fairness. We also like to see the “little guy” succeed. Fair trade focuses on the small producer. Many customers are willing to pay more for products made ethically––with people and the environment in mind.

Brian:

I disagree. It’s all about the bottom line. If you can buy a “regular” chocolate bar for half the price of a “fair trade” bar, which do you think people will choose? The market for fair trade products is people with higher incomes. 

Ellie:

And just what do you think is in that cheap chocolate bar? Lots of sugar, vegetable oil, and little to no cocoa! Dealing directly with farmers and cutting out “middlemen” keeps prices down and allows us to keep its quality in check. This is how we make a difference in the lives of producers. 

Host:

And that’s all we have time for today. Thank you both for a lively discussion!

Poppy:

Hello and welcome to The Poppy Podcast. I’m your host, Poppy. In my new series, “On the Ground,” we speak to people all over the world who do important work. Today we’re calling a cacao farmer from Ghana in West Africa where most of the world’s chocolate comes from. Let’s find out what happens on the ground…

Poppy:

Hi, Kofi! Thank you for agreeing to speak with me. How are you today?

Kofi:

Not so good. Something happened at the cacao farm this morning. I am devastated. 

Poppy:

I’m so sorry to hear that. Would you like to share what happened?

Kofi:

We discovered that almost a third of our trees have developed a disease. Many of the cocoa pods are covered in small dark spots causing them to rot and shrivel. It’s a horrible disease called Black Pod. They must be treated; otherwise, we could lose the trees.  

That’s a third of my harvest gone! I’ll be able to sell only a fraction of what I usually do. I don’t know how we’re going to survive––we already have so little. I’m hoping that the disease doesn’t spread to the rest of farm, for then I’ll be left with nothing. It’s going to be a very tough year.  

Poppy:

That’s awful. How much cacao do you usually produce each year?

Kofi:

I used to produce about 32 sacks of beans, which is about two metric tons. In the past couple of years, I’ve been producing fewer sacks. I think the soil is no longer as fertile as it used to be. I cannot afford to spend money on fertilizer, so there’s nothing much I can do.  

In a year, my farm makes at most 30 Cedis (about USD$5) a day. I have to pay the farmers that work for me. I have to feed my family, too. That leaves us each with about 3 Cedis (USD$0.50) each person, a day. My twelve-year-old son helps on the farm. A few of his friends work for me too––they are not as expensive to hire. 

Poppy:

Do they work on the farm after school?

Kofi:

No. We cannot afford to put our children in school.

Poppy:

I see…

Kofi:

I have to go now. I must go back to work. 

Poppy:

Thank you so much for sharing your struggles with us, Kofi. I want to help. We’ll keep in touch. 

Kofi:

Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you. Goodbye!

Poppy:

Hello and welcome to The Poppy Podcast. I’m your host, Poppy. Today, I’m speaking to Veronica Hui, who runs Bittersweet, an ethical chocolate company that goes the extra mile to guarantee the quality and fairness of its chocolate bars. 

Poppy:

Hi, Veronica. How are you? Thank you for speaking with me about chocolate!

Veronica:

My pleasure. I can talk about it all day. Chocolate is my favorite thing in the world.  

Poppy:

Can you tell us about Bittersweet, and how it came about?  

Veronica:

Sure. Back in 2010, I decided to make chocolate that’s true to its taste, no additives or flavoring, no milk, and very little sugar. But I realized that the quality and variety of cocoa I could get in the U.S. was limited. There were only a handful of chocolate manufacturers that I could purchase from, and I was not impressed by any of them. 

Poppy:

What did you do then?

Veronica:

I did some research and found that I could buy cacao directly from farms in Ghana. So, I started making trips to Ghana, searching above and beyond for farmers who were interested in producing high-quality cacao beans. The farms I partner with now are great at organic farming. That is, farming without using pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Their careful fermentation process brings out the natural flavors of cacao beans! 

Poppy:

Does this mean that you don’t have to deal with any middlemen?

Veronica:

Oh yes! We have a very short supply chain. We pay the farmers twice as much as the market price, and the beans are processed locally before being shipped to us. We have pretty much eliminated the extra costs when cacao traders and big manufacturers are involved.  .  

Poppy:

Is that why your chocolate is still reasonably priced?

Veronica:

That’s right. There are no other ingredients but sugar and cocoa butter. Hence the name, Bittersweet. When you eat our chocolate, you can actually taste the fruitiness of our cacao beans. Another thing that keeps the cost down is packaging. I went for the simplest and greenest packaging available. No fancy tin cans or silk ribbons for that matter.  

Poppy:

Well, Veronica. Thank you so much for telling us about Bittersweet. I hope more chocolate companies do what you do. Keep up the good work! 

Veronica:

You’re welcome. 

Poppy:

Good morning. I’m your host Poppy, and you’re listening to The Poppy Podcast. We are pleased to have Jack Sullivan with us today. He’s an environmentalist who’s been working with cacao farmers in West Africa. Tell us why you’re there, Jack.  

Jack:

Well, there have been lots of scary predictions that chocolate is going to disappear off the face of the Earth in 30 years. I’ve been helping local cacao farmers and chocolate companies to make sure that that doesn’t happen.

Poppy:

What do you tell them? 

Jack:

That cutting down the rainforest to make way for cacao farms is not the answer. Cacao trees are small and need shade. They can be planted in the rainforest. 

Poppy:

I understand that farmers who grow only cacao are taking a risk.

Jack:

Yes. I teach farmers to practice biodiversity. They need to plant something else between their rows of cacao trees.

Poppy:

What’s good to plant?

Jack:

Banana and cassava trees work well. The additional crop keeps weeds down, so cacao farmers are more likely to stop using pesticides and use organic compost instead of chemical fertilizers. Those chemicals end up polluting the land as well as the freshwater supply.  

Poppy:

Should cacao farms be organic?

Jack:

Oh yes! We teach organic farming methods. For example, instead of using fertilizer, we show farmers how to grind up the bean pods as mulch. The recycled pods are spread around the trees. This is a natural way to improve the fertility and health of the soil. It keeps weeds down, too.

Poppy:

What about that white sticky stuff around the beans? What happens to it?

Jack:

You mean the pulp? While some of it is necessary to ferment the beans, the unused pulp is often thrown out and wasted. I show farmers how this pulp can be sold for jams, sweets, and drinks.

Poppy:

What is your advice for the chocolate companies? 

Jack:

Well…They need to replant trees and bring back the rainforest. Did you know that Ivory Coast has lost 80% of its forests since 1960? And that chimpanzees are in great danger because this is their habitat? that chimpanzees are in great danger because this is their habitat?

Poppy:

But through all of this you still have hope?

Jack:

For sure. It is in the interest of chocolate companies to work hard to stop deforestation so that cacao has a sustainable future.