Cocoa cultivation has been promoted in Peru since the 1990s as an alternative to illegal cocoa cultivation. However, this has resulted in high deforestation rates. Since 2011, HALBA has been purchasing organic and Fairtrade cocoa beans from the San Martin province. Shortly after 2011, it launched a reforestation project with partners Acopagro and PUR Projet to sequester CO₂e emissions and protect the rainforest.
On land managed by the Acopagro cooperative, trees are planted in order to enable the sale of carbon-neutral chocolate, thereby combating deforestation and maintaining biodiversity. The project has provided farmers with a new source of income, as the cooperative has been able to sell the sequestrated CO₂ in international emissions trading. Between 2011 and 2024, HALBA sequestered 76 000 tonnes of CO₂ by planting trees together with PUR Projet.
In the context of this project, HALBA offset chocolate product emissions with the Carbon Neutral Product label until 2024 by calculating the products’ CO₂e footprints and validating them with the foundation myclimate. In addition, the project helped to conserve 4 954 hectares of forest. Starting in 2025, HALBA will fully align its climate strategy with the guidelines of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). The plan is to dispense with the Carbon Neutral Product label, as the focus will be on the systematic reduction of emissions along the supply chain.
As in other cocoa-growing regions, the San Martin region in Peru suffers from unsustainable cocoa cultivation methods. These have led to significant crop losses in recent years, primarily due to the spread of disease and pests. For this reason, HALBA has decided to apply the dynamic agroforestry (DAF) approach, which has already been successfully implemented in other countries. The collaboration with the Acopagro cocoa cooperative and partners Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation has been in place since 2024. Ecotop supports this DAF project with the necessary technical expertise.
As of the end of 2024, 76 000 tonnes of CO₂e have been offset in this project.
In addition, the first DAF pilot plots were established by the end of 2024. These will form the basis for the development of a well-founded DAF project with Acopagro, HALBA and other partners.
