Thanks to an unprecedented media campaign, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, the two heavyweights in world cocoa production, have won a lightning victory against the chocolate maker Hershey, but nothing is really settled, according to experts. .

The battle between the two countries and the American giant was over the special premium for planters. This premium, imposed by Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana in 2019, and called the Decent Income Differential (DRD), amounts to 400 dollars per ton of cocoa (in addition to the market price). It is intended to better remunerate planters, millions of whom live in poverty in West Africa.

Ivory Coast, the world's largest cocoa producer with more than 40% of the market, and its neighbor Ghana, number two with more than 20%, launched an unprecedented media offensive on Monday against Hershey and Mars, publicly accusing the two multinationals to buy cocoa or cocoa paste without paying this DRD.

The cocoa marketing agreement circumvented by two American multinationals https://t.co/85aoyqmf4m

— Africanews French (@africanewsfr) December 1, 2020

Sustainable cocoa

These programs, also known as "sustainability", aim to guarantee that multinationals buy "sustainable cocoa" respecting ethical production criteria (not leading to deforestation or not using child labor in particular). They are an important element of communication and marketing aimed at Western consumers.

On Friday, the CCC finally announced the suspension of this sanction, claiming to have obtained satisfaction. "This lifting of the suspension follows your definitive commitment to pay the DRD", wrote the general manager of the CCC Yves Koné in a letter to the Hershey group.

The latter, who denied not paying this premium, declared Saturday "to recognize the importance and the value of the DRD to improve the life of the planters". Thursday, the manufacturer of chocolate bars said he was "happy to have been able to explain himself with Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana to clarify" the situation.

The Mars Wrigley group also “categorically denied” Friday not paying the DRD and claimed to have been “the first company to publicly support” this mechanism. “We are disappointed that others in the industry have recently chosen other buying channels.”

Cocoa farmers threaten to "boycott" multinationals https://t.co/qQtQyIe9wA

— Africanews French (@africanewsfr) December 3, 2020

Chocolate multinationals

All the major chocolate groups, Mondelez (Milka, Côte d'Or, Toblerone brands, etc.), Nestlé, Lindt & Sprüngli, Ferrero (Nutella), as well as the trading and processing giant Barry Callebaut, have affirmed their support for the DRD.

Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana "won a battle, Hershey was stuck", judges a trader preferring to remain anonymous. "But Hershey still made a lot of money by buying 30 to 40,000 tonnes of cocoa without paying the DRD, and then they just asked for forgiveness and the sanction was lifted. The risk is that the other multinationals will make the same thing".

"This case shows that when Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire are together, they make cocoa prices," said an expert on condition of anonymity. "But if we really want to improve the lot of planters in the long term, everyone has to get together, including chocolate groups, processors and all intermediaries". And to add: "All the players in the cocoa-chocolate sector must sit around a table and see how we can increase the value and distribute it more equitably".

Planters are the poor relatives of the world cocoa and chocolate market, from which they receive only 6% of the 100 billion dollars in annual revenue. Half of Ivorian planters live below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.