But life can be challenging where cocoa is grown.
That’s why we developed the Nestlé Cocoa Plan:
better farming, better lives – and better cocoa.

Since 2009, the Nestlé Cocoa Plan has positively impacted cocoa-farming families across our three pillars; Better Farming, Better Lives, Better Cocoa. In 2023, we made significant progress toward our goal, welcoming more than 20 000 new farmers – bringing the total to 179,339 – who received training and resources to help them improve yields and livelihoods as part of the Nestlé Cocoa Plan. Here are some of the specific activities we undertook and the progress we have made from our latest report:

Better Farming
  • Over 90,000 Nestlé Cocoa Plan farmers were trained in good agricultural practices (GAPs), including pruning, pest and disease control, weeding, shade management and harvest management.
  • A third of farmers (33%) were considered to have adopted at least four GAPs (including pruning) to an acceptable standard.
  • 44% of farmers had adopted pruning, i.e. cutting back unproductive branches to boost the cocoa tree’s overall yield and resilience.
Better Lives
  • To prevent and address child labour risks, the Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation System (CLMRS) cumulatively supported 156,974 children in Côte d’Ivoire since its launch (up from 127,550 in 2020).
  • The CLMRS also benefitted 2,809 children in Ghana (up from 2,399 in 2020).
Better Cocoa
  • 179,399 farmers in the Nestlé Cocoa Plan
  • o 100% certified cocoa since 2015 at Nestlé Confectionery in the UK & Ireland
  • o We made notable progress towards our Forest Positive strategy, including our drive to achieve deforestation-free cocoa by 2025. Though overviewed in our Annual Progress Report, on this specific point more detailed information is available in our Towards Forest Positive Cocoa Progress Report 2024 2024-NCP-Cocoa-Forest-Positive-Report.pdf (nestlecocoaplan.com)

More detailed information can be found here.

Rainforest Alliance

Proudly Rainforest Alliance Certified

Since 2016, all of the cocoa we’ve sourced for the KitKat chocolate you enjoy here in the UK & Ireland has been certified which means it is being grown more sustainably.

We are proud of our work with the Rainforest Alliance that goes beyond certification of cocoa beans into other impact areas. Read more about this on the Rainforest Alliance’s website.

In fact, the Rainforest Alliance is not the only organisation we work with on our journey to make cocoa more sustainable.

To make real and lasting change requires collaboration. A number of organisations have come together to deliver the Nestlé Cocoa Plan. Find out more by clicking on the partner links below.

The Income Accelerator Programme

Gender Equality

With an innovative family-centred approach, the income accelerator programme is aiming to close the living income gap and reduce child labour risks by encouraging changes in behaviour and rewarding positive practices – both within the home and on the farm. The programme rewards cocoa-farming families for practices that benefit the environment and local community.

Cocoa Farming

Incentivising positive practices

A cash incentive is paid to cocoa-farming households for certain activities to accelerate change.  The programme incentivises and enables cocoa-farming families to engage in practices in four areas:

Farmers

School enrolment Good agricultural practices

Cocoa Farming

Agroforestry activities

Diversified incomes

Farmers Cooperative

Mobile money cash transfers are distributed equally between the farmer and spouse to encourage gender equality, share financial responsibilities, and build a more resilient household.

To learn more about the income accelerator programme, and read our latest progress report, please click here The Income Accelerator Program | The Nestle Cocoa Plan