Sociologist, anthropologist and general coordinator of the Friends of the Earth association, Frédéric Amiel has worked for around twenty years for various NGOs and environmental research institutes. Specializing in tropical deforestation, he was interested in cocoa production and its consequences in his book “A brief history of globalization for chocolate lovers” (Editions de l’Atelier, 2021). And it highlights a trade that is far from always being ethical.
You say that chocolate is the symbol of our globalized system and that it causes a social crisis. For what reasons?
Cocoa is a global industry. On the one hand, rich Western countries which are major consumers of chocolate and on the other side of the world, in poor countries, cocoa planters with very low incomes. There are 5 million of them, most of them underpaid. Today, around 4% of the price of a chocolate bar goes to the planter even though it is he who has worked all year. There is a very poor distribution of value between producers and manufacturers. Added to their poverty is child labor – according to Unicef there are nearly 100,000 on the plantations – and human rights violations on illegal plantations.
You also point out an environmental problem, particularly linked to deforestation.
Yes, because to meet demand, half of the cocoa trees planted since the 1960s have been planted in place of natural forests, particularly in Ivory Coast. Deforestation for the benefit of this monoculture responds to a logic of seeking the lowest production cost for producers. In a situation where the producer has a cocoa price that does not allow him and his family to live decently, the best strategy for opening a new cocoa field is to cut down a hectare of forest and plant cocoa trees. on these fertile soils to achieve faster cocoa production.
Is it possible to eat fairer chocolate in France?
First of all, we have a specificity in France, which is that we eat dark chocolate at 30% on average, while the European average is more around 3 or 4%. It is therefore a consumption very rich in raw cocoa. So we have our role to play. Today, most artisan chocolatiers make efforts with regard to their supply, but they represent a tiny minority compared to large manufacturers who are less careful about the origin of their raw materials.
What are the labels and certifications that have appeared on chocolate products worth?
They are supposed to guarantee a minimum purchase price and the traceability of the raw material for those covered by fair trade or compliance with environmental requirements in the cultivation of cocoa, for those of organic. But it is not always very reliable and these certifications today represent a very small share of the chocolate market. Because even if the large cocoa production companies produce fair trade and organic products to complement their range, they continue to sell conventional products, i.e. the bad products. We really have a regulation problem, for fear of lack of profitability. As long as cocoa remains an unregulated market product, this social and environmental imbalance will continue…
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