Chicago-based Barry Callebaut Group said that its North American “better-for-you” portfolio is transitioning to supporting sustainably sourced cocoa and vanilla. The portfolio includes but is not limited to sugar solutions (sugar-free, reduced sugar, no sugar added), high-protein, dairy-free and organic solutions.

According to Barry Callebaut, all “better-for-you’ products will be moving to Cocoa Horizons-verified through the Cocoa Horizons Foundation. Other popular cocoa sustainability certification programs continue to be available.

Sustainable Cocoa Horizons cocoa and chocolate products are sold by Barry Callebaut with a premium, which is used to help improve the livelihoods of cocoa farmers and their communities, the company said. These premiums go to the Cocoa Horizons Foundation to fund cocoa sustainability activities such as farmer coaching and support, cocoa and non-cocoa seedling distribution, and community development in a transparent and externally verified process.

The Cocoa Horizons Foundation serves as a platform for chocolate companies and other contributors to invest in sustainable cocoa. It relies on expert partners such as Barry Callebaut to implement the sustainability activities. Additionally, the “better-for-you” products will be supporting sustainable vanilla production through a partnership with vanilla supplier Prova to implement the Sustainable Vanilla Charter, Barry Callebaut said.

“Barry Callebaut looks at the ‘better-for-you’ segment through an end consumer lens,” said Laura Bergan, director, Barry Callebaut Brand. “Our innovation and portfolio are driven by consumer lifestyles and a result of closely monitoring market trends. Our sustainable portfolio goes beyond health benefits, including the quality of the ingredients and the impact on the planet and farmers’ livelihood, which plays an important role for consumers. Being fully cocoa- and vanilla-sustainable adds to the value proposition of our products, which our customers can leverage in their product development and story-telling.”

Barry Callebaut says its Forever Chocolate initiatives have the mission to make sustainable chocolate the norm. Forever Chocolate is built on four targets that Barry Callebaut expects to achieve by 2025 and that address the biggest sustainability challenges in the chocolate supply chain: eradicating child labor from its supply chain, lifting more than 500,000 cocoa farmers out of poverty, becoming carbon and forest positive, and providing 100% sustainable ingredients in all its products.

“This is an important step towards our goal of being completely sustainable by 2025,” said Bergan. “Barry Callebaut embraces its role as an industry leader by leading the sustainable cocoa and chocolate movement. We cannot achieve our ambitious goal by tomorrow and we cannot achieve it alone.”