Sustainable and Fair Trade Cocoa
A sustainable future
Create impact and drive change
Leonidas is proud to contribute to the Cocoa Horizons Foundation. This organization was founded by Barry Callebaut to shape a sustainable future for cocoa and chocolate.
Leonidas currently only uses cocoa from 100% sustainable and fair trade crops!
The mission: to improve the living conditions of cocoa farmers and their communities by promoting sustainable agriculture, improved productivity and community development.
The Cocoa Horizons Foundation serves as a new platform for chocolate companies and other partners to invest in sustainable chocolate.
Community Challenges
Cocoa communities are often located in remote areas, generally deprived of any form of infrastructure and basic services (schools, literacy, access to clean water and necessary healthcare).
Gender inequality also impacts the sustainable future of cocoa communities: women have few opportunities to develop their skills and generate income.
The reason that strongly motivated Leonidas to participate in the "Cocoa Horizons Project" was, among other things, the fact that education and child protection are an important part of the program.
As a family business, Leonidas places great importance on the concept of family. All employees are considered part of a single, extended family. Maintaining and implementing this vision is essential to the company's daily operations.
Education
Education is the cornerstone of all development.
In addition to promoting the importance of going to school every day, the Cocoa Horizons Foundation helps build necessary infrastructure when it is (virtually) non-existent within a community.
This commitment involves the construction and fitting out of classrooms, the provision of school meals, the construction of separate latrines for girls and boys, the provision of solar panels for lighting, and the creation of staff rooms to attract and retain qualified staff.
To meet the needs expressed by communities and producer groups, we aim to provide a more accessible, safe and properly equipped learning environment for children and youth in cocoa-growing regions.
Child protection
The project's goal of fostering the development of cocoa communities involves ensuring that every child can attend school and is protected from hazardous work. With the support of its partners, the Cocoa Horizons Project promotes the importance of training for each producer, and each works closely with local communities to raise awareness of child labor, foster a better understanding of its causes, and find constructive solutions.