Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program
Our commitment to sustainability starts with a bean, a tree, and a farmer.
The Lindt & Sprüngli promise
For our key raw materials and especially for cocoa beans we make special efforts to ensure a sustainable and socially responsible supply chain. This is reflected in our commitment towards sustainability along the entire value chain and our promise: All the products that leave our factories will ultimately live up to our commitment to sustainability along the entire value chain.
The Lindt & Sprüngli approach
Lindt & Sprüngli is one of the few manufacturers to produce chocolate from bean to bar. This enables us to foster sustainable behavior along the entire value chain.
High-quality cocoa beans are the heart of our chocolates. We want to know where those beans come from and what the conditions are on the ground. Lindt & Sprüngli has a big advantage in this, as we are one of the few companies to produce chocolate from bean to bar – from the selection of the finest cocoa varieties through to the finished product. This is one of the most fundamental criteria of a sustainable and traceable cocoa bean supply chain – and it's not a task we want to delegate to others. That’s why Lindt & Sprüngli implemented an own sustainable sourcing model: the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program.
Introducing the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program
Start of the Farming Program in Ghana, with focus on traceability and community development.
Extension of the Farming Program to cover four pillars: traceability, training, community support and verification.
We reached our goal of 100% traceable and externally verified cocoa bean supply chain in Ghana. The premiums paid so far for the sustainably sourced cocoa beans add up to more than 14 mio. US Dollars.
Around 80,000 farmers participate in the Farming Program and benefit from the content and initiatives for sustainable cocoa cultivation and environmentally friendly agriculture.
Our goal: 100% traceable and externally verified worldwide cocoa bean supply chain by end of 2020.
Countries covered by the Farming Program
Lindt & Sprüngli sources its high-quality cocoa beans from the world's most renowned cocoa origins such as Ghana, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Madagascar and Papua New Guinea. The Farming Program is in place in all countries we source from.
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The Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program consists of four pillars
Pillar 1: Traceability and farmer organization
Everything starts with traceability.
Traceability is important. We can only have an impact on local circumstances if we know where the beans are coming from.
We believe that farmers working together in groups are more successful and share their knowledge. That’s why we help our farmers to form groups.
Pillar 2: Training and knowledge transfer
The Program helps the farmers to improve and professionalize their way of farming by giving training and transferring knowledge. About 400 passionate Program Managers work with the cocoa farmers in the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program.
The Program trainers teach the farmers in the following fields:
Farmers learn everything from planting and harvesting to fermentation and drying of cocoa.
Training includes information about biodiversity and the protection of the environment.
They receive information about e.g. health, safety, labor standards or child labor.
They learn how to manage their farms professionally as a business and increase their incomes by boosting productivity on their farms or diversify their income.
Pillar 3: Farmer investments
Farmers receive support and equipment for the professionalization of their farms.
Farmers often do not have access to farming and planting equipment. This is why the Farming Program invests in the set-up of farm shops, nurseries with new cocoa plants, demonstration plots where farmers learn about good agricultural practices, environmental protection products or pruning tools.
Pillar 3: Community development
The communities the farmers live in are supported in their development.
Quite often, the local communities lack access to clean drinking water. This is why wells and boreholes are constructed. Other investments include village resource centers that give access to information and communication technology infrastructure, mosquito nets for malaria protection or school refurbishments. Have a look at the progress of the community development in the short videos below.
Pillar 4: Continuous progress and verification
The external verification of our Program is an important step towards our overall aim of a sustainable long-term supply chain.
Within the internal monitoring & performance management system, field staff visit each farmer participating in the Farming Program at least once a year to see if the training content on agricultural, social, environmental and business aspects of farming is applied on the farms. Potential corrective actions are discussed together with the farmer and their implementation monitored. The ultimate aim is to measure the progress the farmers are making towards sustainable cocoa production and environmental friendly agriculture. The Earthworm Foundation visits each Program at least once a year to conduct external assessments, and to give recommendations for further improvement.
This enables the progress made to be verified.
Where we stand in terms of verification and traceability
We make continuous progress towards a fully traceable and verified cocoa bean supply chain.
2017
92% cocoa beans traceable and verified cocoa beans traceable
2018
97% cocoa beans traceable and verified cocoa beans traceable
2019
97% cocoa beans traceable and verified cocoa beans traceable
