Our Cocoa

Our COCOA

BEHIND OUR APPROACH

Cocoa is one of our main ingredients – and we respect strict quality standards in our sourcing of cocoa to create the utmost taste experience. As part of our commitment to quality, delivering the best taste experience, and our ambition for a cocoa industry that respects human rights and reduces its environmental impact, we have created our Cocoa Charter, to clarify our sustainability ambitions and specify our requirements to suppliers, while tracking progress through action plans and progress reports.

DISCOVER OUR COCOA CHARTER

Cocoa sourcing

We buy our cocoa from the Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, two countries that between them grow well over half of the world’s cocoa, as well as from Nigeria and Ecuador. Today, 100% of the cocoa we use to produce Ferrero Rocher is sourced through certification schemes and independently managed standards such as Rainforest Alliance, Cocoa Horizons and Fairtrade, among others.
Discover more at RA.org, Fairtrade.net and Cocoa Horizons.org

We're a founding member of the Cocoa & Forests Initiative, a partnership between the top cocoa-producing countries and leading chocolate and cocoa companies. Ferrero is also a long-time member of both the World Cocoa Foundation and the International Cocoa Initiative to support initiatives aimed at leveraging good agricultural practices, preventing and addressing child labour in cocoa growing communities and contributing to reduce environmental impact.

Supporting farming communities

We invest in Farmer Field Schools. In 2025 we trained 136,000 farmers (65% of our cocoa farmers) in good agricultural, social and environmental practices - most of them through one-to-one coaching. We also help them learn new income alternatives by planting other crops such as fruit and timber trees, beekeeping for honey, or livestock farming.

Social responsibility

Our quality approach to cocoa

Cocoa harvests differ from year to year, and so we use our experience to create the best blends that will support consistent quality and luxurious taste of Ferrero Rocher. 98% of the cocoa beans Ferrero purchases globally are also traceable to the farm where they were grown, and we use technology to map farms and sourcing areas so that we know their location, size, and productivity.

Checking the cocoa at source

Cocoa trees produce cocoa pods, each containing about 40 cocoa beans. The cocoa beans are removed from the shells and left to ferment in heaps under banana leaves for a week. The farmers dry the beans in the tropical sun for about a week, then take them to a nearby purchasing point, like a small warehouse. Here the beans undergo the first of many quality checks. Quality is monitored every step of the way, from where and how the cocoa beans are grown, to meticulous quality controls and regular tasting, helping to deliver the consistently refined taste experience of Ferrero Rocher.