Walking the talk on sustainable cocoa sourcing

Our investments are supporting more sustainable, traceable and resilient cocoa supply chains in Latin America and Afirca

Two cocoa investments

Cocoa supply chains are under pressure. On the one side, diseases caused by degraded ecosystems are severely affecting production in some of the largest producing countries. On the other side, there is an increasing need to show that sustainability standards are high, and production is not driving deforestation (for example, for exporting into the EU). This matters in countries like Côte d’Ivoire and Brazil where cacao-based products are largely exported as inputs for chocolate production globally.

That’s why in 2025 we made two investments to support cacao producing and processing models, combining financing for scaling up sustainable production and improving standards with capacity building:

Investment in Africa

The eco.business sub-fund for Africa made a EUR 15 million loan to TanMondial, a cocoa exporter that links local smallholder farmers to premium markets, promoting agroforestry, certification, and responsible sourcing practices.

This supports the company’s sourcing of sustainably produced cocoa beans from certified farmers in Côte d’Ivoire.

Investment in Latin America

The eco.business subfund for Latin America invested BRL 80 million (approximately USD 4 million) via a CRA (a Brazilian Agribusiness Receivables Certificate) in Gencau Group a local cacao producer and trader delivering local and international chocolate manufacturers. The company’s aim is expanding its own production of cacao in Brazil and processing it to high-quality cocoa ingredients with guaranteed origins both for local and international producers of chocolate. This was one of the first biodiversity-aligned agribusiness receivable-backed securities in Brazil and marked our inaugural corporate debt transaction in the country.

The CRA was awarded the “Sustainability Bond of the Year – Corporate” by Environmental Finance.

Cocoa production that protects ecosystems

These investments reflect eco.business’s broader focus on more direct investments, as a way to achieve a closer engagement with borrowers. This closer relationship is especially important in a commodity such as cocoa, where the challenges described above (crop resilience, climate change, and increasing environmental compliance demands in destiny markets) open up an opportunity for our fund to provide targeted support, linked to specific improvements, combined with advisory as well.

In Côte d’Ivoire the TanMondial financing supports critical working capital needs, allowing the company to expand sourcing from around 2000 local smallholders across 4,400 hectares of agroforestry systems. Agroforestry systems can support biodiversity by integrating cocoa with native trees, helping maintain habitats, improve soil health and reduce pressure on surrounding ecosystems.

Through certification, traceability, and targeted training, these farmers are linked to international export markets with strict environmental requirements, while adopting more sustainable production practices.

In Brazil, proceeds from the Gencau transaction are used to source cocoa from sustainable smallholder producers, many producing under agroforestry systems that integrate cocoa with native trees. The company currently supports more than 800 smallholders in environmentally sensitive regions such as the Amazon, with plans to expand this to over 2,000 farmers by 2030, contributing to improved and more stable incomes through fair contracts.

Both investments share a common purpose: They link cocoa producers to stronger markets while supporting biodiversity-conscious agriculture, improved livelihoods and greater traceability. In addition, both operations are aligned with evolving regulatory requirements like the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) as well as certification schemes such as Rainforest Alliance (RA).

At Gencau, we believe that sustainable growth goes hand in hand with farmer prosperity and biodiversity conservation. This partnership allows us to expand agroforestry, strengthen traceability, and offer fairer opportunities for hundreds of family farmers. Together, we are setting a new standard for responsible cocoa production

Adriano Pedroso, CEO of Gencau

SDGs supported

SDG 8

SDG 13

SDG 15

SDG 17