Kandi Slocum

Saronville, NE

Sustainable and Responsibly-Sourced Cocoa

As part of Mars, Incorporated, THE COCOA EXCHANGE enjoys being a family-owned business with a century-long history of chocolate-making. We're proud of our rich heritage and of our business principles that guide how we source ingredients and manufacture products:

Quality in everything we do.

Mars, Inc. remains the only company of our size to still oversee every step in creating our signature chocolate: from carefully-chosen cocoa beans to our unique chocolate-making processes that deliver America's favorite chocolate. Mars has made a simple but bold pledge to use only certified, sustainable cocoa in all of our products by 2020. DOVE® Dark Chocolate is already Rainforest Alliance Certified.

Mutuality at the heart of our business.

Nothing can serve our purpose unless it serves others, too. It's why we lead the world's chocolate producers in Cocoa Sustainability efforts. It's why we mapped the Cocoa Genome and then shared it with the world. It's also why we partnered with CARE®, a leading humanitarian organization, to provide women in Cote d'Ivoire, a cocoa-producing country in West Africa, with access to Village Savings & Loan Associations (VSLAs). With donations from DOVE® and THE COCOA EXCHANGE, these VSLA groups will bring together groups of women to learn business skills, start small enterprises, and create a brighter future for themselves. Through access to these programs and education, we empower women to exert their influence. When these women flourish, their families and villages do, too. Your purchase from THE COCOA EXCHANGE supports an entrepreneur in the USA and one in Cote d'Ivoire. So enjoy a treat that tastes good and does good, too. We currently donate to CARE through the sale of our DOVE® Signature Chocolate Martini Mix.

Meet some of the women involved in our current program:

Marie-Paule Sibahi
“Before CARE, life was very difficult. If you were faced with a death or had to pay school fees or farm repairs, you had to take a loan that paid back double. If you borrowed 100, you had to pay back 200. With CARE, it is easier as a woman to access money. This helped women become stronger – we can sell our products, start small businesses, and fend for ourselves.”
Elodie Demain
“Now is not the same as before. Before, my husband was the sole provider and I had to rely on him. Since I started with CARE, I can handle things myself. It has helped me cover costs for my children and now I have my own power, my own money.”
Kebrida Djourou
“I am the president of the women’s association of Kenadu CARE group. The group is 30 highly motivated women, courageous. Each week we save our money. Before [VSLA], the most I could make in a year was four bags of cocoa beans. But with my CARE money, I bought the fertilizer, when I weighed the cocoa in December I had 752,000 CFA francs and my farm is 2.5 hectares... Do you see how it changed?
Read more about our CARE partnership here.

At Mars, we believe in sustainability through productivity. By improving our farmers' yield and product, we improve their livelihood while also reducing land use and the impact on the environment. The key to success starts with our farmers.

Fast
Facts

DOVE® Dark Chocolate is Rainforest Alliance Certified. Mars has pledged to use only certified cocoa by 2020.

The Mesquite Creek wind farm in Lamesa, Texas, generates energy equivalent to 100% of Mars’ electricity needs in the U.S.

All U.S. Mars manufacturing sites are 0 waste-to-landfill - achieved in December 2015.

Our Human Rights Policy is our commitment to identifying, mitigating and preventing adverse impacts on human rights, and taking appropriate remedial action. Our Supplier Code of Conduct lays out our human rights expectations of our first-tier suppliers. In our extended agricultural supply chains, we take steps to advance respect for human rights.

Find out more about Mars' commitment to Cocoa Sustainability here