For the confectionery giants, it can make sense to look elsewhere. But how are these majors diversifying?<\/p>\n
Exploring new locations <\/p>\n
One of the big drivers of the cocoa crisis has been volatility of weather patterns in West Africa. Often, the entire process of cocoa farming is made more difficult<\/a> by weather no longer following a predictable pattern. Meanwhile, crop diseases like swollen shoot virus are rampant. <\/p>\n While the rest of the world is, of course, not immune to these climate-induced difficulties, a diversified approach still makes it less likely that one bad crop will sabotage a company\u2019s entire inventory. <\/p>\n In a recent earnings call, US-based snacking giant Mondel\u0113z International explained that it was focusing more significantly on the Latin America market, particularly Brazil and Ecuador, as well as a small amount in India and Indonesia. These countries have different farming models to West Africa. <\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s just better from an overall long-term risk management perspective that we balance our supply of cocoa into different geographical regions\u201c, says CEO Dirk Van de Put. <\/p>\n Such diversification, he says, will reduce the impact of a bad crop or disease on the overall cocoa market. <\/p>\n Barry Callebaut is also looking to diversify. It has signed agreements in Brazil to expand cocoa production there, and it already has production in Ecuador. <\/p>\n FMCG giant Mars is also expanding its global investments, investing significantly into research centres for protecting supply chains. <\/p>\n In 2024, it opened a research laboratory to enhance yields in Indonesia. In December last year it partnered with commodities broker Sucden to boost climate resilient crop production in the Dominican Republic and Ecuador. <\/p>\n Nestl\u00e9, however, is still focused primarily on West Africa. Africa represents around 64% of the cocoa sourced through the Nestl\u00e9 Cocoa Plan, as opposed to Latin America, which represents 32%. <\/p>\n C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire remains Nestl\u00e9\u2019s main origin, and along with Ghana is the location of its income accelerator programme<\/a>. This programme represents Nestl\u00e9\u2019s efforts to improve yields through encouraging farmers to change their agricultural practices. <\/p>\n Nestl\u00e9 has also developed technical innovations to improve its cocoa yields<\/a>. <\/p>\n Cocoa replacements <\/p>\n As well as moving into different regions, some major chocolate players are even looking at replacements for cocoa itself. <\/p>\n Barry Callebaut, for example, has partnered with biotech company Planet A Foods, which produces a cocoa alternative through locally available crops such as sunflower seeds. <\/p>\n It is also looking into cultivated cocoa<\/a>. In a partnership with Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), it is researching the potential of cultivated cocoa to shield itself from supply chain uncertainties. <\/p>\n Despite comparisons to cultivated meat, the process is substantially simpler when done with cocoa. <\/p>\n Mondel\u0113z also plans to invest in \u2018lab-grown\u2019 cocoa, which it predicts will have greater availability over time. <\/p>\n CEO Van de Put even suggests that the European Commission and US would be likely to approve it. \u201cWhy? Because it has significant beneficial effect in the sense that all the negatives that surround the cocoa supply chain would not be there as it relates to climate and other social effects.\u201d<\/p>\n The multinational has been putting money into the start-up Celleste Bio<\/a>, which produces cultivated cocoa. <\/p>\n![\"Cocoa](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/KPC6GQM4YZB5TLNIXCDD2YZYXY.jpg\")
Chocolate majors are diversifying away from West Africa (Image: Getty Images\/Rparobe)<\/p>\n![\"Natural](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IKIRDFA6KFCZBH4FBKJPATPUFU.jpg\")
Several chocolate majors are investing in cocoa alternatives (Image: Getty Images\/Inteki1)<\/p>\n