our 4 pillars
of sustainability

All Belfine lollipops are Fairtrade cocoa certified. Our farmers are paid a Fairtrade Minimum Price for their goods, which acts as a safeguard when market prices drop. On top of this, farmer organizations also receive a Fairtrade Premium which they invest in projects of their choice. Many farmers have used the Premium to improve their businesses and production, replacing old trees and investing in better facilities for crop collection, storage, transport, or processing.

But with Route De Cacao, we go beyond Fairtrade. We created our own sustainable cocoa sourcing program supporting 112 cocoa farmers in the village Tigorikro in Ivory Coast. In our post-harvest center located close to our cocoa farmers, expert fermenters monitor and improve the fermentation process. This ensures a consistent superior taste for chocolate lovers, and more income for farmers.

Training and premium pricing for cocoa farmers are part of our program but we are always looking for new ways to improve their lives. With the Chocolate Bonus, we share the value of a higher quality chocolate, directly back with the cocoa farming communities we work with.

How? By building school infrastructure, providing school kits to kids and teachers, all with a focus to ensure equal access to quality education in Tigorikro.

By constructing sanitary facilities and dry toilets at the school and by building health centers and offering drinkable water equipment. Every month we check-up with a community head and two local families to see how our social projects are advancing and if we need to adjust our approach.

We take our responsabilities in the fight against climate change. Latest climate science from the IPCC described by the UN states a "code red for humanity". But it also shows that it is still possible to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C.

Our target is to emit 42% less greenhouse gasses (Scope 1 & 2) by 2030 compared to 2020. Our CO₂ reducing efforts follow the system of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Our CO₂ footprint mapping and emission reduction targets are approved by SBTi.

We have an emission plan that we are implementing. Remaining CO₂ emissions are compensated through investment in several Gold standard projects: renewable energy projects, afforestation and reforestation projects, effficient cookstoves in Africa. By doing this, we can state that remaining emissions are compensated.

We are certified against the Climate Neutral Standard of Climate Neutral Group for CO₂ emissions of scope 1, scope 2 and specific aspects of scope 3, being business travel and employee commuting. We are therefore proudly using the trademark for our climate neutral certificated organisation.

For more information, see:
www.climateneutralcertification.com