Business Daily: The Cocoa Conundrum

BBC World Service | Host: Hannah Bewley | Date: November 26, 2025

Overview

This episode of Business Daily dives into the intricate challenges facing the global cocoa industry as it grapples with spiking prices, new European Union deforestation regulations (EUDR), and persistent concerns over sustainability, farmer welfare, and environmental protection. Host Hannah Bewley speaks with key players across the cocoa supply chain — from boutique chocolate makers and major traders to African farmer representatives and global chocolate brands — to unravel whether the world can have chocolate that’s both affordable and sustainable.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Chocolate’s Global Landscape and Roots of the Crisis

• Europe’s Chocolate Obsession
  • Europe now consumes half of the world’s chocolate, despite cocoa’s South American origins. (02:28)
• Inequity and Environmental Damage
  • Issues like child labor, exploitation, and environmental harm have long plagued the cocoa supply chain. (02:28)
• The Price Issue
  • "This crisis has been years in the making. [...] the consumer got used to too cheap chocolate."
    —Martin Braun, ex-Cargill cocoa head (01:28, reiterated at 09:08)

2. EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR): Motivation & Implementation

• What is EUDR?
  • Aimed at eliminating the use of deforestation-linked raw materials in products sold in the EU, requiring proof no trees have been cut where cocoa is grown in the past 6 years. Also affects palm oil, soy, timber, rubber, cattle, coffee. (03:00, 13:00)
• Compliance Challenges
  • Even small, craft chocolate makers face hurdles documenting every cocoa bean’s source.
    —“Despite the fact that you are, in global terms a tiny business, you still have to comply with the EU regulations on deforestation.” (03:55)
  • Mapping plantations — surprisingly technical for smallholders without smartphones or reliable infrastructure. (04:44, 06:46)
  • Quote: "Some of the farmers don't even have a cell phone. So how do you start mapping your plantation?"
    —Albert Smith, small cocoa business owner (04:44 & again at 06:46)

3. Perspectives from the Global Supply Chain

A. Small Chocolate Makers (Albert Smith, Amsterdam)

• Traceability as an Advantage
  • Already source from small, transparent co-ops. New regulations are feasible but “come with some challenges.” (04:38)
• Price Perspective
  • "The higher price for cocoa is just a tiny part of the chocolate bar, so why not pay a little bit more? I think prices at war with where we are now is a more sustainable price level for the whole supply chain." (07:24, 07:44)

B. Industry and Traders’ View (Martin Braun)

• Timing is Problematic
  • “It’s the worst possible time because we have had deficits… in an environment of high inflation and record high cocoa prices. [...] it’s not a great timing to add additional cost.” (09:08)
• Skepticism of Policy Makers
  • Regulations designed by policymakers “who haven’t visited the origins and who do not properly know or understand how the industry works.” (10:02)
  • Quote: “The EUDR is made in my mind with a noble purpose, but made from the context and perspective of bureaucrats who sit in a nicely carpeted air conditioned office and who have never really done the work.” (10:13)
• Who Pays?
  • "Everyone in the supply chain wants to protect their margin. These costs, they will end up in a combination of the final consumer and the weakest link of all. That’s the producer, the poor farmer." (12:32)

C. Voices from Cocoa Farmers (Omrid Adiola Adegoke, West Africa)

• Infrastructure & Determination
  • Acknowledges heavy infrastructural gaps but sees the need for environmentally friendly, “infrastructure-free cocoa” as non-negotiable. (15:11)
• Connection with Consumers
  • “It brings the consumers closer to the producers. [...] It makes the consumer aware of the unmotorable, unserviceable roads, the reliable roads, the lack of potable waters and the living conditions of the families of cocoa farmers. [...] It creates a transparent system.” (15:52)
  • Hopes improved transparency will draw investment to farming communities. (16:20)

D. Consumer Attitudes (Dutch Shoppers)

• Willingness to Pay More?
  • Mixed responses: Some prioritize taste and price, others express willingness to pay more if farmers and the environment benefit. (Interview montage, 17:30–18:48)
  • Notable comment: “If it’s like a €10 one, then I wouldn’t, I would rather go for like the €2 one or something.” (17:23)
  • “The normal chocolates are way too cheap. You can even buy it for €1.50. I mean that is ridiculous. [...] The money will go to the local people to give them a better life. Also to tackle deforestation.” (17:44)
• Skepticism:
  • One shopper: “I want them to be producers most efficiently as possible. [...] The cost is completely irrelevant. [...] But I like chocolate a lot, so I buy the chocolate, but when I buy it in the supermarket, I buy the more expensive chocolate. So I hope that's the best one for the climate and for the cacao farmers.” (18:23–18:48)

E. Global Chocolate Giants (Ferrero’s Francesco Tramontin)

• Backing Regulation
  • “The European deforestation regulations and the due diligence provisions are the ones that we feel can make a meaningful impact and therefore we've been really supporting their adoptions.” (19:55)
  • Opposes efforts to delay or weaken the EUDR. (20:00)
• Cost of Compliance
  • “The total can cost in excess of the 10 of millions. [...] But it is manageable.” (20:29)
  • Argues administrative cost is less crucial than the raw material itself:
    “The cost of cocoa and the level of the cost of cocoa, it's much bigger than udr.” (21:45)
• Obligation, Not a Consumer Choice
  • “Consumers shouldn't be having to choose on sustainability negatives. So I think eliminating certain issues like deforestation should be part of the cost of doing business.” (21:45)
• On Farmer Investment
  • “There needs to be more investments in farmers. [...] I think it's the concerted approach that really will make the difference. That's why legislation is the key.” (22:35)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “This crisis has been years in the making. One of the things was that the consumer got used to too cheap chocolate.”
  —Martin Braun (01:28, 09:08)
• “Some of the farmers don't even have a cell phone. So how do you start mapping your plantation?”
  —Albert Smith (04:44, 06:46)
• “Sustainability needs to be profitable. Otherwise it's not sustainable.”
  —Martin Braun (11:51)
• “It brings the consumers closer to the producers. It makes the consumer aware of... the living conditions of the families of cocoa farmers.”
  —Omrid Adiola Adegoke (15:52)
• “Consumers shouldn't be having to choose on sustainability negatives. [...] Eliminating certain issues like deforestation should be part of the cost of doing business.”
  —Francesco Tramontin, Ferrero (21:45)
• “Everyone in the supply chain wants to protect their margin. These costs, they will end up in a combination of the final consumer and the weakest link of all. That’s the producer, the poor farmer.”
  —Martin Braun (12:32)

Timestamps of Key Segments

• 01:10 — Introduction: The chocolate crisis
• 01:28, 09:08 — Martin Braun on roots of crisis: cheap chocolate and timing of regulation
• 03:38–08:13 — Matthew Kenyon & Albert Smith: Small chocolate makers and traceability
• 09:08–12:32 — Martin Braun: The trader’s perspective, who bears the cost
• 14:40–16:36 — Omrid Adiola Adegoke: Farmers’ challenges and opportunities
• 17:30–18:48 — Dutch shoppers: Willingness to pay for sustainability
• 19:55–22:35 — Francesco Tramontin (Ferrero): Why big chocolate backs EUDR and how costs stack up

Summary & Flow

This episode artfully explores the push-and-pull between ethical sourcing and economic pressures gripping the cocoa industry. New EU regulations challenge producers at every level, from rural African farmers lacking basic infrastructure to multinational corporations facing multimillion-euro compliance costs. Small manufacturers like Albert Smith argue for paying more at plantation level, while traders fear policy overreach will pinch supply and ultimately impact the weakest: the farmers themselves. Ferrero’s global affairs chief defends legislation as essential, arguing the bigger threat to prices is cocoa’s fundamental scarcity, worsened by climate change.

Conversations with European chocolate buyers reveal a split: principle-driven consumers willing to pay more versus those prioritizing price or efficiency. Throughout, the voices of African farmers underscore both the day-to-day realities — poor roads, water shortages — and the hope that greater transparency will eventually bring prosperity.

The verdict? The cocoa conundrum is deep and complex, with no easy answers — but perhaps, as the episode’s recurring theme suggests, it’s time for consumers, companies, and regulators alike to pay the true cost of chocolate.

For listeners seeking to understand the future of chocolate — as both a treat and a commodity at the center of global economic, environmental, and ethical challenges — this episode is a must-listen.