Mars, Nestlé, Mondelēz, Hershey and Lindt join forces in Geneva to tackle farmer incomes and secure cocoa supply resilience.

Chocolate giants unite to launch TogetherCocoa Foundation to strengthen cocoa supply chainChocolate giants unite to launch TogetherCocoa Foundation to strengthen cocoa supply chain


Five of the world’s largest chocolate manufacturers – Mars, Lindt & Sprüngli, Mondelēz International, Nestlé and The Hershey Company – are incorporating the TogetherCocoa Foundation in Geneva, Switzerland, in a landmark move aimed at strengthening farmer incomes and safeguarding long-term cocoa supply.

The new foundation will focus on closing the living income gap for cocoa farming households in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, while accelerating industry-wide collaboration to improve the resilience of the cocoa supply chain.

The initiative is in its early stages, with further details to follow as operations ramp up. The companies said they will continue to engage closely with the governments of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, supply chain partners and the wider cocoa sector.

In a joint statement, the companies said:

The foundation will build on the existing efforts by individual companies to help close the living income gap for cocoa farming households in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana and will drive industry-wide collaborative action to help strengthen the resilience of the cocoa supply chain.”

Nestlé stressed that meaningful progress will depend on industry-wide collaboration, adding:

We believe that making a large scale long-term positive impact on cocoa farming families in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana is only possible through close collaboration with other industry players and the local governments.”

Crisis backdrop

The foundation is being launched amid deepening volatility across the cocoa sector, underscoring the urgency for coordinated industry action. In 2024, cocoa prices surged to historic highs after poor harvests in West Africa, which produces around 70 percent of the world’s cocoa. Prices rose from a long-term average of roughly $2,500 per tonne to more than $12,500 at their peak and remain significantly above pre-crisis levels.

Despite the rally, higher global prices have not translated into materially improved livelihoods for many farmers. In Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, regulated farmgate pricing systems limit how far smallholders benefit from market spikes, while rising fertiliser and input costs continue to erode already fragile margins.

At the same time, the sector faces mounting structural challenges. Climate change, soil degradation, disease, deforestation and increasingly unpredictable weather are reducing yields and heightening the risk of long-term supply instability – placing pressure on both producers and manufacturers to act.

In response to these escalating pressures, the companies emphasised that participation in TogetherCocoa will sit alongside existing sustainability and income initiatives, including Mars’ Cocoa for Generations strategy, Lindt’s Farming Program, Hershey’s cocoa sustainability and farmer professionalisation work, and Nestlé’s Cocoa Plan and income accelerator programme.