Sustainability and Supply Chain Transparency in the Confectionery Market - Digitization as an Opportunity for Companies and Consumers.

Fair wages and transparency have been a major issue in the cocoa industry for many years. In 2020, Ghanaian farmers could only collect 6% of the retail price of a chocolate bar compared to 16% in 1980.

The challenge: complex supply chains and the proof of social - and environmental impact criteria along the chain. Companies are under pressure to meet consumer expectations and legal requirements, but often lack important data along their supply chains.

Unfair working conditions and exploitation in the cocoa industry are no longer just the concern of human rights activists and eco-activists alone. To address these issues, Koa - a cocoa fruit juice producer - has partnered with seedtrace. All payment transactions are stored irrevocably and decentrally on a public blockchain. The seedtrace tracing solution is directly integrated with Koa's systems and the mobile payments provider MTN to track and reconcile payments, and food waste reduction. 

All important supply chain data is accessible through the platform and can be clearly communicated externally, allowing actors along the chain as well as consumers to trace the individual history of the product they hold in their hands. Through the cooperation with Koa alone, about 1,200 cocoa farmers have benefited so far and about 180,000 EUR have been verifiably paid out through direct payments. 

By providing product-specific information, more conscious purchasing decisions can be promoted and consumers' willingness to pay increased. seedtrace looks beyond the label and analyses where the data comes from and what it actually means, thus driving consumer change and sustainable processes along global supply chains.