Nestlé enters nature restoration partnerships in cocoa supply chain

Nestlé has entered two long-term agroforestry partnerships to restore degraded areas in its Brazilian cocoa and coffee supply chains.

The food giant will work with Brazilian reforestation startup re.green to restore 2,000 hectares of forest in southern Bahia, and with chocolate manufacturer Barry Callebaut to convert more than 6,000 hectares of cocoa plantations to agroforestry.

Agroforestry with Barry Callebaut

With the Swiss-Belgian chocolate maker, Nestlé will plant 7.7 million trees, including cocoa trees, over five years and across 6.215 hectares. The partnership will strengthen both companies’ cocoa supply chains and support their net zero goals, with at least 20 years of carbon benefits expected.

The programme includes three main projects to address different farmer segments and their challenges. 

It follows a similar initiative in Côte d’Ivoire, where Barry Callebaut is restoring 11,500 hectares of cocoa farming land, benefiting a total of over 6,000 participating farmers through payments for ecosystem services and sequestering 1.3 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent over 25 years. 

“This collaboration with Barry Callebaut is another significant step towards realising our shared vision of a sustainable cocoa supply chain. By empowering farmers and incentivising climate-positive practices, we can collectively contribute to a greener future,” said Barbara Sapunar, Executive Director of Digital Transformation and ESG at Nestlé Brazil.

“By collaborating with our customers in this way, we can accelerate our journey toward these targets, fostering a more sustainable future for cocoa farmers, consumers, and the entire chocolate ecosystem,” added Tilmann Silber, Head of Net Zero at Barry Callebaut.

Generating carbon credits from Brazil’s Atlantic Forest

The agreement with re.green will see the two firms planting 3.3 million native trees in the Bahia region – a crucial area for cocoa production and biodiversity conservation – strengthening sustainable supply chains and generating 880,000 carbon credits over 30 years.

The project will also support farmers in contributing to climate adaptation and soil regeneration.

“This collaboration shows how coordinated actions between committed companies and restoration specialists can transform landscapes, create shared value, and deliver practical solutions for today’s environmental challenges,” re.green said in a statement.

Earlier this year, Nestlé also signed an agreement with ofi to train 25,000 cocoa farmers across Brazil, Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria to convert their operations to agroforestry as part of a new regenerative agriculture programme.