6 reasons why this evening cocoa helps grow the rainforest
I always have a cup of cocoa every night. I didn't change a thing about my night. But I recently just changed which pouch was in the cupboard, and it turns out it's way better... for everyone.
Cocoa Nursery · Impact Report 2025Here's something I only learned recently: cocoa only grows in a narrow rainforest belt around the equator, and that same belt is being cleared to plant more of it.
A regular cup of cocoa is, for most brands, part of this deforestation problem.
A portion of every pouch goes back to the farm
Not a campaign, not a "round up at checkout" prompt I have to remember. It's built into the price. A portion of every sale funds farmer-led microprojects in the places the cocoa comes from: Mexico, Bolivia and Côte d'Ivoire.
I buy the thing I was going to buy anyway, and part of it turns back into trees and tools.
One pouch. Two directions.
- Evening Cocoa Blend, 250 g, to your cupboard
- Farmer-led microprojects in Mexico, Bolivia and Côte d'Ivoire
- Trees, tools and training the farmers asked for
It's grown under the trees, not instead of them
This is the part that really did it for me. Most cocoa means clearing forest to make room. Agroforestry means the opposite: cocoa grown under the existing canopy, so the forest stays standing and the wildlife keeps its home.
Cleared
Forest cut down to make room for cocoa. Sun, soil loss, no habitat.
Under the canopy
Cocoa grown beneath the existing trees. Forest stays. Wildlife stays.
Grown under the canopy, not instead of it. Same crop, no clearance.
It plants trees... and replants them after fires and floods
9,000
Cocoa trees planted
4 hectares
Land restored
The Cocoa Circle Impact Report 2025
The Cocoa Circle has planted 9,000 cocoa trees and restored 4 hectares of land, and helped replant after fires and floods hit farms in Mexico.
Planting Saplings · Impact Report 2025When a hillside burns, the pouch helps to put it back.
Better forest means better cocoa, which means school
This is the chain, and it's the reason it holds together:
- A healthier forest grows better-quality cocoa
- Better cocoa earns farmers more
- More income means kids in school
- And a farm the next generation actually wants to keep
Standing trees aren't charity here. They're the whole business model.
It works through the cooperatives, not around them
The impact isn't handed down from head office. A portion of every purchase funds microprojects designed by the cocoa communities themselves: drying facilities, fermentation boxes, composting equipment, over €40,000 invested in the infrastructure farmers actually asked for.
-
Drying facilities built
23
-
Fermentation boxes provided
20
-
Cocoa processing equipment
65
-
Invested in infrastructure
€40k+
-
Farmers directly benefited
25+
-
Partnerships on the ground
5
Figures: The Cocoa Circle Impact Report 2025.
Harvest · Impact Report 202525+ farmers have benefited so far, through 5 partnerships on the ground.
Same cup. Bigger circle.
Drink to grow the rainforest.
Evening Cocoa Blend: Carob or Cinnamon · €49,95 a pouch. A portion of every pouch keeps the circle turning.
I was going to drink something before bed anyway
That's the real reason it stuck. This isn't a donation I have to feel virtuous about or remember to renew. It's a comforting cup of hot cocoa that I'd be making regardless.
The only difference is the pouch it comes from, and where the money goes after I pay for it.
Your evening ritual. Their morning forest.
Evening Cocoa Blend · Carob or Cinnamon
A portion of every pouch keeps the circle turning.
Same cup you were going to make tonight. Part of the price goes back to the farmers and forests it came from.