AAK’s Kolo Nafaso sustainable shea program tipped to boost ethical chocolate category

24 Aug 2021 --- AAK has extended its Kolo Nafaso shea sourcing program to support the growing demand for ethically produced chocolate. 

Shea is a widely used plant-based fat ingredient in chocolate products, where it delivers texture and functionality. According to the company, demand for sustainably sourced shea is currently higher than ever.

Rising demand for ethical ingredients
Ethical claims are one the fastest-growing types of claims in the chocolate confectionery and chocolate spreads sectors. 

There is more than just cocoa and sugar in chocolate, and consumers and companies increasingly want all ingredients to be sustainable. 

Notably, organic and fair trade claims, and storytelling are also increasingly used in chocolate applications to communicate transparency to the consumer. 

In the past year, over half of consumers say they have changed their purchase choices to make a difference on an economic, environmental, social or political issue.

This ties in with Innova Market Insights’ Top Trend for 2021: “Transparency Triumphs.” The market researcher emphasizes that increasing transparency to meet evolving ethical, environmental and clean label consumer demands is key. 

Speaking to FoodIngredientsFirst, Luis Parra, global business director of chocolate and confectionery fats says consumers are aware and demanding more ethical products and therefore chocolate manufacturers and their supply chains are taking joint responsibility to meet this request of ethical ingredients. 

“We should take into consideration a lot of different factors depending on the countries or regions in the world,” he says. “It is certainly a competitive space which has raised the bar for chocolate brands.”

Women participating in Kolo Nafaso have access to a pre-financing scheme that ensures a stable income during the leanest period of the year.Support for women
AAK’s Kolo Nafaso program already reaches 320,000 women in West Africa, representing 8 percent of the global shea industry’s workforce.

As one of the world’s key shea suppliers, the company directly sources shea kernels from Burkina Faso, Ghana and Ivory Coast, where women predominantly collect the kernels. 

Within Kolo Nafaso, established in 2009, AAK purchases directly from women’s groups, ranging from 7 to 400 in size, eliminating the need for middlemen. 

As a result, the women are empowered to invest back into their communities. This enables them to build a better livelihood for themselves and their families. 

As in many other places, human and labor rights can be major challenges in West Africa, particularly gender inequality. So, there is a need to support these women, many of whom live in rural villages with poverty as an ever-present threat. 

AAK provides support on a grand scale by having a direct relationship, avoiding the need for intermediaries, and maximizing traceability and transparency – resulting in claims that can be carried through to finished products.

Kolo Nafaso achieves its aims to a significant degree. As a result, the program gives the women’s groups a route to, among others, the high-volume mainstream chocolate confectionery sector.

“To the best of our knowledge, no other commercial program empowers women on the scale of Kolo Nafaso,” says Parra. 

“Our vision is to continuously improve our collaboration and expand its impact in West Africa. We also hope that our model for sustainable sourcing can be inspirational to many other companies.”

“Kolo Nafaso directly contributes to women’s empowerment by confirming the economic value of shea and strengthening women’s role as economic actors in their communities. Empowerment is the means by which to alleviate poverty and make better livelihoods happen,” Parra explains.

Verification landmark
AAK’s Kolo Nafaso programs in Burkina Faso and Ghana achieved a major landmark in 2020, as Proforest fully verified them. 

This external, non-profit organization promotes responsible production and sourcing of agricultural commodities. In 2021, the full scope of Kolo Nafaso was verified, including Ivory Coast.

Women participating in Kolo Nafaso have access to a pre-financing scheme that ensures a stable income during the leanest period of the year, avoiding a significant drop in income when shea is out of season. 

They can opt to receive interest-free credits during lean periods, helping them maintain their living standards throughout the year and not just during the shea kernel harvest. 

Industry partnersEthical claims are one the fastest-growing types of claims in the chocolate confectionery and chocolate spreads sectors.
Kolo Nafaso is aligned with AAK’s corporate purpose, Making Better Happen. It operates alongside several other sustainable shea initiatives taken together with industry players. 

For example, AAK recently announced a partnership with global confectionery, food and pet care company Mars, several leading NGOs, and an impact investment fund to establish the ten-year Women in Shea (WISH) initiative. 

Victoria Mars, chairman of the board for Mars Incorporated, said: “We are proud to launch together a large-scale shea sourcing initiative in Ghana to bring benefits to women who live in a particularly fragile ecosystem.”

AAK has also formed a sustainable shea partnership with Scandinavian/Northern European confectionery company Cloetta. 

Maria Selling, sustainability manager at Cloetta, also commented: “The partnership between AAK and Cloetta on responsibly sourced shea is an example of how we can work together to create a long-term positive impact in the shea supply chain. With an improved income, women are also in a better situation to address poverty, which is often the root cause of many sustainability problems.”

Meanwhile, in June, FoodIngredientsFirst reported that the Global Shea Alliance (GSA) implemented a Resilient Shea Agroforestry Farm Model (RSAFM) in Nigeria. The project evaluates the economic benefits of resilient shea agroforestry farm models among shea-producing communities and improves stakeholder capacity for easy replication in the region.

GSA also revealed July as the Shea Month dedicated to protecting shea parklands. The Shea Month aims to create awareness of the need to grow more trees to safeguard parklands and promote industry sustainability.

By Elizabeth Green