FAQs - Frequently Asked Questions to Lindt & Sprüngli

What does bean to bar mean?

Cocoa is our most important raw material and as one of the few global chocolate manufacturers, Lindt & Sprüngli adopts a bean to bar approach for the production of its premium chocolate products.

It all starts with sourcing cocoa beans through our own sustainability program, the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program, continues with producing cocoa mass in our own production facilities, and extends to processing the chocolate and ultimately marketing and distributing our quality products. We achieved a 100% traceable and externally verified worldwide cocoa bean supply chain by end of 2020.

In 2021, Lindt & Sprüngli expanded its Farming Program to cocoa butter sourced from the Côte d'Ivoire. The cocoa used is decisive for the quality and taste of the chocolate, which is why Lindt & Sprüngli has such high standards for raw materials used and processing start as early as with the cocoa. For Lindt & Sprüngli, bean to bar production forms the basis of a sustainable and traceable cocoa bean supply chain and is therefore a responsibility from the very beginning.

An exception is our subsidiary Russell Stover which buys chocolate and chocolate products.

Visit this page From Bean to Bar to find out more about the steps in Lindt & Sprüngli’s chocolate production.

Where does Lindt & Sprüngli stand with regards to sustainable cocoa sourcing and what are the commitments made?

Our main cocoa commitment by 2025 is to source 100% of our cocoa products (beans, butter, powder, and chocolate mass) through sustainability programs.,

After achieving our target of sourcing 100% of our cocoa beans through the Farming Program in 2020, we expanded the Program to include sustainable sourcing of cocoa butter in 2021. In 2022, we were also able to purchase a small amount of cocoa powder through the Faming Program for the first time.

See all of Lindt & Sprüngli's commitments in regard to sustainability and the progress achieved here Sustainability Plan - Our Commitment for a Better Tomorrow

What does Lindt & Sprüngli do regarding sustainable sourcing of cocoa beans? What is the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program and its scope?

In 2008, we have launched the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program in Ghana and in the subsequent years in all our other cocoa bean sourcing origins (Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea and Peru) to improve the livelihoods of our cocoa farmers, their families and communities. One of our top priorities is to ensure that they are able to benefit directly from our financial support.

With the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program for cocoa beans, we work towards our vision of “decent and resilient livelihoods for today’s and future cocoa farmers and their families, and a sustainable intensification of agriculture while securing the supply of high-quality cocoa beans from a stable base of farmers” (see more in our Theory of Change).

The Program enables us to trace cocoa beans back to their origin (according to traceability standard “identify preserved”) and support farmers and their communities according to their specific needs. It empowers farmers to manage their farms in accordance with sound agricultural, social, ecological, and economic practices and to increase productivity. The engagement also targets the diversification of incomes and improved resilience of farmers and their smallholdings. All this is achieved by the four pillars of the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program:

1. Traceability and farmer organization
2. Training and knowledge transfer
3. Farmer investments and community development
4. Verification and continuous progress (via internal monitoring system and external auditing and verification by The Earthworm Foundation)

The Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program is financed by price premiums paid for every ton of cocoa beans sourced, as well as contributions from the Lindt Cocoa Foundation. Local partners implement the Program in the field with a team of dedicated field staff. In every origin the Program is tailor-made to tackle the sustainability issues locally.

Since 2020, 100% of our cocoa beans are traceable and externally verified. This is a major step toward our target to source all cocoa products (beans, butter, powder, chocolate and, for Russell Stover, chocolate) through sustainability programs by 2025.

Where can I find more information about the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program?

Cocoa is our most important raw material. Even though we do not contract with cocoa farmers directly, and work through suppliers, we voluntarily go beyond expectations by supporting farmers and their communities through our own sustainability program for cocoa – the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program. Through the Farming Program, we aim to create decent and resilient livelihoods for cocoa farmers and their families and to encourage more sustainable farming practices. More information regarding the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program can be found here.

Why does Lindt & Sprüngli not print the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program logo on all products?

We are printing it on our products (except white chocolate products) and are integrating this continuously.

From where does Lindt & Sprüngli source its cocoa?

Cocoa is the heart of our chocolates. Knowing which of the many different origins of cocoa will best contribute to the distinctive taste of a product is a skill that we have perfected over time.

A fundamental distinction is made between consumer and fine flavor cocoa. Consumer cocoa is cocoa with a robust flavor. It accounts for the largest share (90-95%) of total global cocoa production and is farmed mainly in West Africa. Lindt & Sprüngli uses Forastero beans (consumer cocoa), exclusively from Ghana.

The remaining 5-10% of worldwide cocoa harvests are fine flavor cocoa. Fine flavor cocoa is a high-quality cocoa with nuanced, fine aroma. It is mainly farmed in Latin America and the Caribbean. Lindt & Sprüngli uses fine flavor cocoa beans (Criollo and Trinitario) from Ecuador, Madagascar, Dominican Republic, Papua New Guinea and Peru.

We are sourcing cocoa butter from the Côte d'Ivoire.

Our own sustainability program, the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program, is in place in all countries we source cocoa from.

We achieved a 100% traceable and externally verified cocoa supply chain by end of 2020. By 2025 100% of our cocoa products (beans, butter, powder, and chocolate mass) will be sourced through sustainability programs.

Is the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program active in all countries from which Lindt & Sprüngli sources cocoa beans?

Yes. Our own sustainability program for cocoa beans, the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program, is in place in all countries we source cocoa beans from (Ghana, Ecuador, Madagascar, Dominican Republic, Papua New Guinea and Peru).

We achieved a 100% traceable and externally verified cocoa bean supply chain by end of 2020.

Which Lindt & Sprüngli brands use cocoa sourced through the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program?

Currently, the following Lindt & Sprüngli brands use cocoa sourced through our sustainability program, the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program: Lindt, Caffarel, Ghirardelli, Küfferle and Hofbauer.

Why does Lindt & Sprüngli focus on traceability?

We believe that the physical traceability of cocoa is a key requirement to achieve sustainability. We take a differentiated approach for the traceability of cocoa beans and cocoa butter, due to their different supply chain characteristics.

For cocoa beans, Lindt & Sprüngli follows the "identity preserved" traceability approach. This highest level of traceability guarantees that the cocoa beans from the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program are always physically processed and transported separately from all other beans and can be traced back to their origin. The traceability of our cocoa bean supply chain is the key foundation of our Program for improving living conditions in the growing countries in the long term. As a bean to bar manufacturer, we have built up extensive expertise, in areas ranging from the selection of high-quality beans and technological know-how in the processing of our own cocoa mass to chocolate production at our own factories. This is a differentiating feature that still distinguishes us as a premium manufacturer today.

For our responsibly sourced cocoa butter, we aim for a physical traceability approach based on segregation. Conventional and sustainable cocoa are strictly separated and the origin of delivered butter batches are known when delivered to Lindt & Sprüngli. In the segregation model, beans delivered by the Lindt & Sprüngli farmer groups to the suppliers get mixed, at supplier level, with other beans originating from farmer groups who also have a sustainability program in place. This means that while all the cocoa butter delivered to Lindt & Sprüngli from a sustainability program under the segregation model originates from sustainable sources, we are not guaranteed that the cocoa beans delivered by our own farmer groups to the suppliers will end up in the cocoa butter we purchase.

We are proud to have achieved a 100% traceable and externally verified cocoa bean supply chain by end of 2020. By 2025 100% of our cocoa products (beans, butter, powder, and chocolate mass) will be sourced through sustainability programs.

Visit this page to find out more how traceability works.

Why does Lindt & Sprüngli focus on external verification?

Our Farming Program builds on a philosophy of continuous improvement. Our monitoring and evaluation approach is based on multiple complementary elements including the quality of Farming Program implementation and the monitoring of outputs and outcomes. We not only assess these elements at the farm level, but at the implementation partner, and we perform checks to verify traceability documents.

All of our cocoa sourcing under our Farming Program and other sustainability programs is subject to external verification annually by an independent third party. The external review gives recommendations to improve and further develop the Farming Program and it helps us to ensure that we have a positive influence on sustainable agricultural development, particularly in terms of the livelihoods of farmers and their families and that we continuously improve the Program.

For cocoa beans, external verification is conducted by the Earthworm Foundation, based on the Farming Program External Assessment Methodology, which enables a mutual learning process. The methodology also includes direct engagement with farmers through individual meetings and focus group discussions to gather feedback on the Farming Program and quality of implementation. The results from the annual assessments are transformed into an action plan with improvement actions identified at supplier level. The annual external verification results are transparently communicated and published by the Earthworm Foundation.

For cocoa butter, we currently have different third-party verification programs in place, including certification, and we are working on aligning these over the coming years.

How does the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program measure its progress and impact?

We publish our progress annually. All of our cocoa sourcing under our Farming Program and other sustainability programs is subject to external verification annually by an independent third-party. For cocoa beans, external verification is conducted by the Earthworm Foundation. The results are transparently communicated and published on the Earthworm website. For cocoa butter, we currently have different third-party verification programs in place, including certification. For selected country of origins, we mandate credible research organizations to survey the farmers and assess the impact of our Program on the farmers, their families and communities.

In the coming years, we aim to strengthen our monitoring and evaluation approach to improve transparency in our reporting and provide a better understanding of our achievements and challenges. This will include a more systematic process to engage with farmers, farmer groups, and communities to gather their feedback and inform Farming Program design. It will also include a strong focus on data analysis and learning, and on making more data-driven decisions. We aim to measure the effectiveness of our Farming Program in a way that informs its overall design, while assessing our impact on the ground more systematically. For example, we will collaborate with academic experts and civil society representatives on the previously monitored 2023 impact assessment with KIT Royal Tropic Institute.

To which extent is Lindt & Sprüngli engaged in improving conditions for farmers in cocoa producing countries?

At Lindt & Sprüngli, we are resolutely turned towards the search for sustainable solutions to offer decent and resilient livelihoods of todays and future cocoa farmers and their families in the countries of origin and ensure sustainable intensification of agriculture.

We recognize the unfortunate reality that globally millions of smallholder farmers are living in poverty, often caught in a vicious cycle of poverty. At the same time, poverty is the root cause for many other sustainability issues, such as deforestation. With the production of chocolate, our company has significant social and environmental impacts related to the cultivation, processing, and transport of raw and packaging materials. Sourcing these materials sustainably is of particular importance to Lindt & Sprüngli. We constantly observe and review environmental and human rights risks associated with our sourced raw and packaging materials and adopt our sourcing policies accordingly.

We are convinced that Lindt & Sprüngli – as other companies – plays an important role in supporting households involved in our supply chains to end poverty and to achieve a living income. Together with other critical actors, such as our suppliers, governments, NGOs, other supply chain partners, researchers, farmers, etc. we work on these topics.

Of special importance for a chocolate company is of course the sourcing of cocoa. We chose to build up our own sustainability program for cocoa, the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program. With the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program for cocoa we work towards our vision of “decent and resilient livelihoods of today’s and future cocoa farmers and their families, and a sustainable intensification of agriculture while securing the supply of high-quality cocoa beans from a stable base of farmers” (see more in our Theory of Change). In this blog entry we also reflect on the importance of net-income in this discussion and present how the Program aims to achieve higher net-income.

The Farming Program enables us to trace cocoa back to their origin and support farmers and their communities according to their specific needs. It empowers farmers to manage their farms in accordance with sound agricultural, social, ecological, and economic practices and to increase productivity. The engagement also targets the diversification of incomes and improved resilience of farmers and their farms.

What is the position of Lindt & Sprüngli on the Living Income Differential (LID) introduced by the governments of the Ivory Coast and Ghana?

Since 2008, Lindt & Sprüngli is supporting cocoa farmers and their communities in Ghana, where we source all our consumer cocoa beans from, through our own cocoa bean sourcing program – the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program. The Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program follows a holistic approach and aims to create decent and resilient livelihoods for current and future cocoa-growing families and sustainable agricultural intensification.

The Program consists of different elements such as farmer trainings, investments in community infrastructure, and fostering income diversification to ultimately increase the net income of farmers, their families, and communities. The Program is funded with a special sustainability premium and additional funds from the Lindt Cocoa Foundation.

The cocoa price we pay is basically determined by the market price. The price a farmer receives for the cocoa is determined either by the local market price or, in Ghana and Ivory Coast, by the government.

We also support the efforts of the two governments to contribute to improved livelihoods of cocoa farmers with the Living Income Differential (LID). We have already purchased cocoa with full LID pricing and will be continuing to do so.

Does Lindt & Sprüngli offer organic chocolate products?

No, we do not offer organic chocolates in our product range.

Does Lindt & Sprüngli use palm oil when producing chocolate?

Yes, palm oil, palm kernel oil, and their fractions are used in limited amounts in certain fillings of our chocolate. Lindt & Sprüngli buys less than 0.01% of the global palm oil harvest. While these products are important for their melting properties and for providing a neutral flavor, their production under uncontrolled conditions may be associated with environmental and social sustainability issues, including deforestation and conversion of peatlands, biodiversity loss, exploitation of workers, and adverse effects on local communities and indigenous peoples.

However, palm oil can be produced responsibly when planted in suitable areas and with appropriate consideration for the environment and communities. Palm oil is a high-yielding vegetable oil. In comparison to soybean, rapeseed, and sunflower, palm oil needs significantly less land to produce the same volume. We recognize that banning and substituting palm oil with other crops would require more land to be dedicated to vegetable oil production globally, likely at the expense of natural forest land. We believe that the best way to protect and restore the rainforest and threatened habitats is to undertake actions for a more sustainable palm oil industry. For these reasons, Lindt & Sprüngli only purchase palm oil certified according to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) sustainability standard, and always declare palm oil use on our product packaging.

Since 2015, Lindt & Sprüngli has sourced 100% of the palm oil, palm kernel oil, and their fractions with RSPO certification and, for all our products produced in Europe, 100% under the “Segregated” traceability model. RSPO’s Segregated traceability level means that certified palm oil is kept separate from conventional palm oil throughout the supply chain. Our US subsidiaries are an exception, where a mix of “Segregated” and “Mass Balance” palm oil, palm kernel oil, and their fractions is used but kept separate in bookkeeping. Lindt & Sprüngli strives to achieve full physical traceability in our palm oil supply chain, and we encourage our commercial partners to contribute to this goal. For detailed information, please see our latest Annual Communication of Progress to the RSPO.

Where do the hazelnuts for Lindt & Sprüngli products come from?

Hazelnuts are a key raw material for Lindt & Sprüngli chocolate products. We source them from Italy and Turkey.

The supply chain in the Turkish Black Sea region, where approximately 70% of the world’s hazelnut harvest originates, has high risks related to labor conditions such as the health and safety of farm workers, child labor, and seasonal workers’ working and accommodation conditions. Therefore, we collaborate closely with our Turkish suppliers to implement programs to improve the economic, agricultural, social, and environmental sustainability of hazelnut sourcing. We have long-term relationships with selected suppliers and a stable farmer base. The hazelnut sustainability programs are organized around four pillars:

1. Traceability and farmer organization
2. Training and knowledge transfer
3. Farmer and worker investments and community development
4. Verification and continuous progress

Does Lindt & Sprüngli use ingredients that are genetically modified?

Lindt & Sprüngli is not involved in any research or development associated with genetically modified foods. None of the Lindt, Caffarel, Küfferle, Hofbauer, or Ghirardelli brand products source genetically modified organisms (GMO) ingredients. We will continue this practice as long as non-GMO raw materials are available. Regular tests are performed to monitor these products and ensure compliance with relevant EU and Swiss regulations. Since late 2019, only a very minor percentage of toppings include bioengineered ingredients.

Russell Stover is currently not planning to switch to non-GMO products.

Are there trans fats or hydrogenated oils in Lindt & Sprüngli chocolate?

Lindt & Sprüngli uses pure cocoa butter as the only vegetable fat to produce our solid chocolates. Fillings may contain other vegetable fats. Milk fat is used in milk chocolate recipes or selected fillings. In this context we would like to point out that none of our products contains hydrogenated oils. For detailed information, it is always best to consult the specific nutritional labelling of the individual product you are interested in.