Oxfam Fair Trade’s reaction to the publication of the Chocolate Scorecard
This year, Oxfam Fair Trade took part for the first time in the Chocolate Scorecard, a ranking that evaluates chocolate brands based on transparency, human rights and sustainability throughout their supply chains.
This year, Oxfam Fair Trade took part for the first time in the Chocolate Scorecard, a ranking that evaluates chocolate brands based on transparency, human rights and sustainability throughout their supply chains.
The scorecard has existed for seven years and asks participating companies and organizations to provide information covering their entire production chain
Why this low score?
Following our discussions with the organization behind the scorecard, we understand that the evaluation was conducted in a methodologically sound way, and that a low score is common for a first-time participation.
At the same time, we observe that the final score does not sufficiently reflect what Oxfam Fair Trade stands for today in terms of fair trade, impact and sustainable supply chains.
During our first participation, we did not fully anticipate the volume and level of detail required for the requested information. As a result, part of the data was not available in a complete form or in the required format at the time of submission.
This limited the ability of the evaluation to fully reflect our operations as well as the efforts we are already making today on certain criteria.
For several indicators, we also depend on data provided by external partners, including Fairtrade International and our partner Puratos.
We were not given the opportunity to complete missing information before the publication of the final score.
The low score is therefore mainly due to an administrative misunderstanding and incomplete documentation during this first participation, rather than a lack of commitment to fair trade or sustainable supply chains.
What happens next?
We are entering into dialogue with the scorecard organization and with our partners to clearly identify which information is missing.
The final score is below our expectations and below the standards we set for ourselves. This situation is confronting, but above all it is an opportunity to further strengthen our administrative processes.
This result does not in any way change our ambition to uphold high standards in fair trade, human rights and sustainability. On the contrary, it underlines the importance of continuing to critically assess our work.
Oxfam Fair Trade deliberately chooses to be evaluated against external, independent standards, even when this leads to challenging outcomes. Transparency and continuous improvement are essential to us.
What do we continue to focus on?
- Transparent supply chains: full visibility at every stage, from bean to bar
- Strong partnerships with cocoa producer cooperatives
- Fair prices for cocoa farmers
- Continuous improvement of our social and environmental impact