TogetherCocoa foundation to be incorporated – Mars, Incorporated

In a significant move that signals a strategic evolution in its approach to one of the world’s most complex supply chains, confectionery giant Mars, Incorporated has announced the formal incorporation of its new TogetherCocoa foundation. This development marks a pivotal moment for the company behind iconic brands like M&M’s, Snickers, and Dove, as it seeks to address the deep-seated environmental and human rights challenges that have long plagued the global cocoa industry. The establishment of this dedicated foundation is more than a corporate restructuring; it is a public declaration of intent to accelerate efforts towards creating a truly modern, inclusive, and sustainable cocoa supply chain for generations to come. But as the ink dries on the incorporation documents, stakeholders from West African farming communities to supermarket aisles are asking the crucial question: will this new entity be the catalyst for the transformative change the industry so desperately needs?

The creation of the TogetherCocoa foundation comes at a critical juncture. For decades, the chocolate industry has been grappling with a trifecta of systemic issues: entrenched farmer poverty, persistent child labor, and rampant deforestation. Despite billions of dollars invested in sustainability programs and certification schemes by major players like Mars, these problems have proven stubbornly resilient. Now, with increasing pressure from consumers, regulatory bodies like the European Union, and non-governmental organizations, the industry is facing a powerful mandate to move beyond incremental improvements and deliver tangible, systemic solutions. The TogetherCocoa foundation appears to be Mars’ answer to this call—a dedicated, focused vehicle designed to tackle the root causes of these issues with renewed vigor and a more collaborative approach. This article delves into the details of this new foundation, the historical context that necessitated its creation, Mars’ own track record in the sector, and what this move signifies for the future of chocolate.

Unveiling the TogetherCocoa Foundation: A New Chapter for Mars

The announcement of the TogetherCocoa foundation’s incorporation represents a calculated shift in how Mars plans to manage and execute its sustainability ambitions. By creating a separate legal entity, the company is aiming to foster a more agile, collaborative, and long-term approach to solving the cocoa crisis.

What We Know So Far

While specific operational details are still emerging, the stated purpose of the TogetherCocoa foundation aligns with the core pillars of Mars’ long-standing “Cocoa for Generations” strategy, launched in 2018. The foundation is expected to concentrate its efforts on three critical areas:

• Protecting Children: Implementing and scaling up systems to prevent and remediate child labor, focusing on addressing its root cause—poverty. This includes promoting access to quality education and strengthening community-based child protection systems.
• Preserving Forests: Working to end deforestation in the cocoa supply chain. This will likely involve enhancing farm mapping, promoting agroforestry practices (integrating trees with crops), and supporting landscape-level conservation efforts in key cocoa-growing regions of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.
• Improving Farmer Incomes: The most complex piece of the puzzle. The foundation will aim to create pathways for farmers to achieve a living income. This involves a multi-faceted approach, including promoting productive farming techniques, encouraging income diversification through other crops or businesses, and fostering more equitable and transparent supply chain relationships.

The name itself—”TogetherCocoa”—strongly implies a foundational principle of collaboration. It suggests that Mars recognizes that no single company can solve these systemic issues alone and that the foundation will serve as a platform for partnering with governments, NGOs, farmer cooperatives, and even competitors.

A Strategic Shift to a Foundation Model

Moving from an internal corporate program to an incorporated foundation is a significant strategic decision. This structure offers several potential advantages. Firstly, it can provide a more stable and dedicated funding stream, potentially insulating long-term projects from short-term corporate budget fluctuations. Secondly, a foundation can often operate with more independence, allowing it to engage in pre-competitive collaborations and partnerships that might be more complex for a corporate entity to navigate directly.

This model could also enhance transparency and accountability. A foundation typically has its own governance structure, including a board of directors. The composition of this board will be a key indicator of its intended independence and inclusivity. The inclusion of external experts, farmer representatives, and NGO leaders on the board would send a powerful signal that TogetherCocoa is committed to a multi-stakeholder approach rather than being a simple extension of Mars’ corporate affairs department.

Governance and Funding: The Engine of Impact

The long-term success of the TogetherCocoa foundation will hinge on two critical elements: its governance and its funding. Mars will undoubtedly be the primary benefactor, but the foundation’s charter may allow it to seek funding from other sources, such as development agencies or philanthropic organizations, further amplifying its impact.

Crucially, stakeholders will be looking for transparency in how funds are allocated and how impact is measured. The cocoa sector is littered with well-intentioned programs that have failed to deliver scalable results. To build trust, TogetherCocoa will need to establish clear, measurable, and publicly reported Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that go beyond simple metrics like “farmers trained” and instead focus on tangible outcomes like “verifiable increases in household income” and “measured reductions in deforestation rates.”

The Bitter Reality Behind a Sweet Treat: Why a New Approach is Crucial

To understand the significance of Mars’ new foundation, one must first grasp the profound and persistent challenges embedded in the global cocoa supply chain, which produces the primary ingredient for a market worth over $130 billion annually. The majority of the world’s cocoa is grown by an estimated 5-6 million smallholder farmers, primarily in West African nations like Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.

The Crushing Weight of Farmer Poverty

At the heart of the cocoa crisis is a fundamental economic imbalance. The price paid to farmers for their cocoa beans is often too low to support a decent standard of living. Most cocoa-farming families live well below the globally recognized poverty line. The concept of a “living income”—the amount needed to afford a basic but decent life, including food, housing, education, and healthcare—remains a distant dream for the vast majority.

This poverty is a direct result of several factors: small farm sizes, aging and unproductive trees, limited access to finance and modern agricultural inputs, and a volatile global commodity market where farmers have virtually no pricing power. For decades, the farmgate price of cocoa has stagnated or declined in real terms, while the profits of manufacturers and retailers have steadily grown. This “living income gap” is not just a statistic; it is the root cause of the industry’s other major ethical failings.

The Persistent Scourge of Child Labor

Where there is extreme poverty, there is often child labor, and the cocoa sector is no exception. A 2020 report by the University of Chicago, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, estimated that 1.56 million children were engaged in hazardous work on cocoa farms in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. This is not a problem of malevolent parents, but one of economic desperation. Families unable to afford adult labor often rely on their children to perform difficult and dangerous tasks, such as using machetes to clear land or carrying heavy loads of cocoa pods.

The chocolate industry, including Mars, first pledged to eradicate the worst forms of child labor in its supply chains by 2005 under the Harkin-Engel Protocol. That deadline, and several subsequent ones, have been missed by a wide margin. This persistent failure highlights the inadequacy of past approaches, which often focused on monitoring and remediation without fundamentally addressing the underlying poverty that drives the practice.

Cocoa’s Environmental Toll: Deforestation and Climate Change

The demand for chocolate has also exacted a heavy toll on the environment. In West Africa, cocoa farming has been a primary driver of deforestation. In Côte d’Ivoire, it is estimated that over 80% of the country’s forests have been lost since 1960, with a significant portion cleared for cocoa plantations. This widespread deforestation has devastating consequences, destroying vital habitats for endangered species like chimpanzees and forest elephants, disrupting local rainfall patterns, and releasing vast amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change.

In a cruel irony, this environmental destruction is now threatening the future of cocoa itself. Changing weather patterns and less fertile soil are making it harder for farmers to grow their crops, creating a vicious cycle of low yields, low income, and further pressure to clear new forest land.

Mars’ Track Record: A Legacy of Pledges and Progress

Mars is not a newcomer to the sustainability arena. The company has been actively involved in cocoa sustainability efforts for years, and its journey provides important context for the creation of the TogetherCocoa foundation. This history is one of both genuine commitment and the sober realization that its efforts, while significant, have not been enough.

The “Cocoa for Generations” Strategy

In 2018, Mars launched its “Cocoa for Generations” strategy, backed by a $1 billion investment over a decade. This was widely seen as one of the most comprehensive and ambitious sustainability plans in the industry. It was built on the two pillars that the new foundation will inherit: “Responsible Cocoa Today” and “Sustainable Cocoa Tomorrow.”

Under “Responsible Cocoa Today,” Mars committed to sourcing 100% of its cocoa through its Responsible Cocoa program by 2025. This involved working with certification bodies like the Rainforest Alliance and Fairtrade to ensure compliance with certain social and environmental standards. The company made significant progress in mapping its supply chain, tracing cocoa back to over 180,000 farms to better understand conditions on the ground.

The “Sustainable Cocoa Tomorrow” pillar was focused on finding the systemic solutions needed for long-term change. This included testing models to increase farmer income, strengthening community-led child labor monitoring and remediation systems, and investing in agroforestry and land restoration projects.

A Candid Look at Successes and Shortcomings

Mars’ efforts have yielded some notable successes. The company has been a leader in supply chain transparency, being one of the first major companies to publish a list of its Tier 1 cocoa suppliers. Its investments have helped distribute millions of higher-yielding, disease-resistant cocoa seedlings to farmers and have supported the training of thousands in more sustainable agricultural practices.

However, Mars has also been candid about its shortcomings. In its own “Cocoa for Generations” progress reports, the company has acknowledged the immense difficulty in moving the needle on the most critical issues. Like the rest of the industry, it has struggled to demonstrate a widespread, scalable impact on farmer income. And despite its best efforts, the goal of eliminating child labor remains elusive. The formation of the TogetherCocoa foundation can be seen as an admission that the previous corporate-led model, even one as well-funded as “Cocoa for Generations,” has inherent limitations in tackling such deeply entrenched, systemic problems.

Beyond Certification: A New Paradigm?

For many years, the primary tool for corporate sustainability was third-party certification. By paying a premium for beans certified by organizations like Fairtrade or Rainforest Alliance, companies could assure consumers that their chocolate was produced under better conditions. While certification has played a vital role in raising standards and awareness, there is a growing consensus that it is not a panacea. Critics argue that the premiums are often too small to lift farmers out of poverty and that the audit-based systems can struggle to detect and prevent issues like child labor effectively. The move to establish a foundation suggests Mars is looking to build a more direct-impact model that goes “beyond certification” to invest in holistic, landscape-level solutions.

An Industry at a Crossroads: How TogetherCocoa Fits In

Mars’ decision was not made in a vacuum. It reflects a broader shift across the entire food and beverage industry, driven by a convergence of regulatory, consumer, and competitive pressures.

A Crowded Field of Corporate Initiatives

Nearly every major chocolate company now has its own flagship sustainability program. Mondelēz International runs its “Cocoa Life” program, Hershey has “Cocoa For Good,” and Barry Callebaut, the world’s largest cocoa processor, has its “Forever Chocolate” plan. These programs often share similar goals and methodologies, focusing on farmer training, community development, and certification.

The TogetherCocoa foundation enters this crowded field with the potential to differentiate itself through its structure. By operating as a foundation, it may be better positioned to foster the pre-competitive collaboration that experts say is essential for progress. Instead of five different companies running five similar farmer-training programs in the same region, a collaborative platform could pool resources, share best practices, and achieve a far greater and more efficient impact.

Regulatory Headwinds and the “EU Effect”

Perhaps the most significant external driver for change is new legislation. The European Union, the world’s largest chocolate market, recently passed the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). This groundbreaking law will require companies selling products like cocoa, coffee, and palm oil in the EU to prove that their goods have not been produced on land deforested after 2020. This shifts the burden of proof squarely onto companies like Mars and will necessitate unprecedented levels of traceability and transparency in their supply chains. Similar legislation concerning human rights and corporate due diligence is also being developed. These regulations are transforming sustainability from a voluntary CSR activity into a mandatory legal compliance issue, forcing companies to accelerate and professionalize their efforts.

The Conscious Consumer

Alongside regulatory pressure, consumer awareness is at an all-time high. A new generation of shoppers is increasingly demanding to know where their food comes from and under what conditions it was produced. Viral documentaries, NGO campaigns, and media reports have shed light on the dark side of chocolate, and brands are acutely aware that their reputations are on the line. The establishment of a high-profile foundation like TogetherCocoa is also a powerful public relations tool, designed to reassure consumers that the company is taking its responsibilities seriously.

Analysis and The Road Ahead: A Catalyst for Change or a Polished Promise?

The incorporation of the TogetherCocoa foundation is a promising development, but its ultimate impact remains to be seen. Its success will depend on its ability to be bold, transparent, and truly collaborative.

Key Indicators of Genuine Commitment

Skeptics may view the foundation as a sophisticated PR exercise or a way to offshore corporate responsibility. To prove them wrong, TogetherCocoa will need to demonstrate its commitment through concrete actions:

• Inclusive Governance: Appointing independent board members, including farmer representatives from West Africa, would be a radical and welcome step.
• Radical Transparency: The foundation should commit to publicly reporting not just its successes but also its failures and the lessons learned. Publishing detailed data on farmer income levels, child labor prevalence, and deforestation rates in its sourcing areas would set a new standard for the industry.
• Addressing Pricing: The most significant test will be whether the foundation is willing to directly address the core issue of cocoa pricing. This could involve advocating for higher government-set farmgate prices, pioneering new purchasing models that guarantee a living income reference price, or making direct cash transfers to farming families.

The Immense Challenges Ahead

The road ahead for TogetherCocoa is fraught with challenges. The scale of poverty is immense, and the political and economic systems in sourcing countries are complex. Climate change is already making farming more difficult, and reaching millions of disparate farmers with effective support programs is a monumental logistical task. Furthermore, the foundation will have to navigate the inherent tension between its long-term social mission and the short-term commercial imperatives of its corporate parent. True sustainability may require investments that don’t show an immediate return, a concept that can be difficult to reconcile with a traditional business mindset.

Conclusion: The World is Watching

The creation of the TogetherCocoa foundation by Mars is a landmark moment. It is an acknowledgment that the strategies of the past, while well-intentioned, have been insufficient to solve the cocoa industry’s profound crises. By establishing a dedicated, and hopefully more independent and collaborative, entity, Mars is positioning itself at the forefront of the search for new solutions.

This is more than just a story about a single company or a single commodity. It is a test case for a new model of corporate responsibility in a globalized world. The foundation’s success or failure will have ripple effects far beyond the chocolate aisle, offering lessons for other industries struggling with similar supply chain challenges. The name “TogetherCocoa” is a promise—a promise of collaboration with farmers, governments, and civil society. Now, the world is watching to see if Mars, through its new foundation, can finally deliver on that promise and help build a future where chocolate is not only a source of pleasure for consumers but also a source of prosperity and dignity for the people who grow it.