Swiss chocolate and cocoa brand Barry Callebaut has installed a 504kW photovoltaic array to supply electricity for its factory in Ghana, West Africa.
Ghana-based solar distributor Redavia supplied the solar system installed at the production facility in the Free Zone Enclave in Tema.
Barry Callebaut Cocoa Africa vice president Jo Thys said: “We want to make sustainable chocolate the norm. Already, 14 out of 59 (24%) of our group’s factories are running on 100% renewable energy.
“The solar farm at our factory in Tema is another important step in our long history of investing into a sustainable value chain.”
Redavia chief executive Erwin Spolders said: “We are thrilled to partner with a market leader on their sustainable energy initiative.”
In 2016, Zurich-based Barry Callebaut Group launched a programme called Forever Chocolate to make sustainable chocolate the norm within the company’s operations by 2025.
Under the programme the producer has committed to four targets: To eradicate child labour from the supply chain, to lift more than 500,000 cocoa farmers out of poverty, to use 100% sustainable ingredients in all products, and to become carbon and forest positive.
In order to become carbon positive, Barry Callebaut said it looks at the carbon footprint created by its own operations and energy use, but also takes into account the carbon footprint of the entire supply chain, including the production and processing of all raw materials and related land use changes.