The cocoa-chocolate industry has a total turnover of USD 123 billion. (Source: Euromonitor, 2017)

There are five million people employed in various capacities in the cultivation and processing of cocoa in Latin America, Africa and Asia. (Source: Cacao Corretto, Mani Tese2019)

Yet the scales tip in favor of a handful of players at the expense of others – precisely these millions of producers, who represent the majority.

More than 90% of the cocoa in circulation comes from small family-run plantations with an average area that, in most cases, does not exceed 2.5 hectares. Although small-scale producers are the backbone of the entire cocoa farming sector, their earnings do not exceed 6-8% of the value added calculated on the sale of the final product. The rest of the pie is divided, mainly among the multinational industries that dominate the processing and marketing of the product. (Source: Cacao Corretto, Mani Tese 2019)

The difficulty and impossibility of influencing the selling price is mainly due to two factors: the disorganization of the farmers from whom the cocoa comes and the relationships of dependence that exist with buyers. (Source: Commercio Equo E Solidale, buono per chi lo produce, buono per chi lo consuma, buono per cambiare il mondo. Equo Garantito,, 2014)

This causes a progressive widening of the gap between the two extremes of the cocoa-chocolate supply chain: the most important multinationals have a record turnover every year, while the slice of revenues received downstream has decreased by 37.5% compared to the 80s. (Source: Cacao Corretto, Mani Tese 2019)

Altromercato checks the ethics of the fair trade cocoa supply chain for its products: it does so directly in the case of direct import from cocoa producers or through its partners (producers, processors, etc.) who purchase cocoa beans under the control and guarantee of WFTO, World Fair Trade Organization. In the case of cocoa imported directly from Altromercato, there is a preliminary assessment made by our Cooperation and Purchasing Department during the start-up phase: it is an ethical, commercial and qualitative assessment that serves to understand if it is possible to start a commercial relationship. After the second order of raw material or product, the producer is evaluated by the Altromercato Ethical Evaluation Committee – an autonomous body with the function of ethical supervision of products and producers – which carries out the visit directly. All the producers from whom we import fair trade cocoa are therefore verified by Altromercato with recurring monitoring.

Altromercato’s supply chain control is consistent with the choice to be part of a formalized guarantee system. Altromercato is a member of Equo Garantito, the Italian General Assembly of Fair Trade that periodically monitors (as part of a guarantee system certified by an independent third party) compliance with the Italian document of Fair Trade Criteria also for the entire part relating to the relationship with producers, contractual agreements and the processing of products.

The founding rules of the system are defined internationally by WFTO – World Fair Trade Organization. All Altromercato fair trade cocoa-based products have the WFTO Label which certifies that they are made in compliance with the 10 Fair Trade Criteria, thus responding to the growing demand for ethical guarantees from the most attentive consumers.