Memberships & partnerships

World Cocoa Foundation

The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) is an international membership organization that promotes sustainability in the cocoa sector by providing cocoa farmers with the support they need to grow high quality cocoa and strengthen their communities. Lindt & Sprüngli has been a member of WCF since 2015, and regularly supports specific projects and initiatives of the organization, including the Cocoa & Forests Initiative (CFI) to end deforestation and restore forest areas. The Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Lindt & Sprüngli serves as a WCF board member.

Cocoa & Forests Initiative

The Cocoa & Forests Initiative (CFI) is a public-private partnership to end cocoa-related deforestation and forest degradation and promote forest restoration. The governments of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana and 36 cocoa and chocolate companies collaborate within the framework of CFI with other stakeholders such as NGOs, farmer organizations and civil society organizations on the development and implementation of business-driven solutions. CFI is driven by the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF); IDH - the Sustainable Trade Initiative; and the Governments of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. It contributes to Sustainable Development Goals 13 (Climate Action) and 15 (Life on Land) and is aligned with the Paris Climate Agreement. As active member of the CFI since 2017, Lindt & Sprüngli reports on progress on an annual basis (see No-Deforestation & Agroforestry Progress Report).

Earthworm Foundation

The Earthworm Foundation is a non-profit organization working with global companies, NGOs and communities to transform supply chains for people and nature. In 2015, Lindt & Sprüngli started working with the Earthworm Foundation as an external assessment partner and became an official member in 2016. At least once a year, the Earthworm Foundation visits and evaluates each of the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Programs.

CLEF Child Learning and Education Facility

CLEF is an innovative public-private partnership focused on scaling investments to systematically improve access to quality education in Côte d’Ivoire. Scaling education is an essential tool to promote children’s rights and combat child labor. The partnership brings together the Government of Côte d’Ivoire, the cocoa and chocolate industry, and philanthropic organizations.

International Cocoa Initiative (ICI)

ICI is a non-profit foundation that works to prevent and address child labor and forced labor in cocoa-growing areas in West Africa. To protect the rights of children and adults, ICI brings together civil society, the cocoa industry, international organizations and donors, farming cooperatives, governments, regional bodies, and more stakeholders.

Lindt Cocoa Foundation

The Lindt Cocoa Foundation was founded in 2013 with the purpose of working towards social and ecological sustainability in the cultivation, production and processing of cocoa and other raw materials used in chocolate production. The Lindt Cocoa Foundation co-funds certain elements within the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program.

IDH – Sustainable Trade Initiative

IDH works with over 600 businesses, financiers, governments and civil society to realize sustainable trade in global value chains. Together with partners, IDH designs, co-funds and prototypes innovative, business driven approaches to create new jobs, sustainable industries and new sustainable markets to have large scale positive impact on climate change, deforestation, gender, living wages and living incomes, in support of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation

Helvetas is an independent organization for development based in Switzerland. Helvetas supports over three million disadvantaged people every year in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. In collaboration with local partners, Helvetas implements development projects in the areas of water, food and climate, education, jobs and private sector development, governance, gender and social equity.

Helvetas is an implementation partner of the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program in Madagascar. Helvetas supports the strengthening of the capacities of exporters' trainers who support farmers to improve productivity and quality of cocoa produced, supports the development of additional income generating activities for farmers and the installment of community infrastructure, mainly water.

Ecotop

Ecotop offers services in the area of rural development in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. The organization mainly focuses on sustainable agriculture based on the natural dynamic of ecosystems (Syntropic Farming, Successional Agroforestry, Dynamic Agroforestry). Ecotop’s objective is to promote agriculture and agroforestry as a central axis for sustainable development in tropical regions, considering food security, biodiversity and resilience of impacts of climate change.

Ecotop provides technical support for the Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program implementation partners in Ecuador. The field staff learns how to establish agroforestry plots and monitor these demo plots. The goal of the collaboration is to enable the local teams to test and scale dynamic agroforestry in the Farming Program, allowing farmers to diversify their income sources.

Nature Conservation Research Centre (NCRC)

The Nature Conservation Research Centre (NCRC) is a Ghanaian non-profit organization implementing conservation initiatives to promote a greater awareness of and protection for the natural, historic and cultural diversity of Ghana and, ultimately, the West African sub-region. The organization is recognized internationally as a leader in developing rural ecotourism and community protected areas as a means of economic development and resource conservation.

Lindt & Sprüngli collaborates with NCRC in Ghana to promote greater collaboration in cocoa regions. The organization is developing a monitoring framework to measuring progress of sustainability initiatives at landscape level and implements projects based on the Landscape Approach in two Hotspot Intervention Areas in the country. As part of these projects, NCRC builds locally embedded governance structures from community-based resource management, enabling the protection of forests beyond company supply chains.

Satelligence

Satelligence provides real-time satellite-based monitoring solutions to track deforestation, land use, and supply chain sustainability. By combining artificial intelligence with satellite imagery, Satelligence helps businesses, governments, and organizations detect environmental risks, ensure compliance with sustainability commitments, and promote responsible sourcing practices.

The high-resolution satellite monitoring platform provided by Satelligence allows Lindt & Sprüngli to more accurately monitor and detect deforestation within or around the mapped Farming Program farms. This tool provides deforestation detection data, deforestation risk assessments, and carbon emission quantification resulting from land-use change.

Rainforest Alliance

Rainforest Alliance works to create a more sustainable world by protecting forests, improving farmer livelihoods, and promoting climate resilience. Through its certification programs, advocacy, and partnerships with local communities, the organization supports responsible land management, biodiversity conservation, and ethical supply chains in the agricultural sector.

In 2024, all our factories obtained Rainforest Alliance Certification. This represents a key development in our drive to transition all our cocoa volumes to this certification as a base requirement, reinforcing our commitment to consistently high standards across our operations.

Agro-MAP

AgroMap specializes in geospatial analytics to enhance agricultural productivity and sustainability. By utilizing satellite data, machine learning, and digital mapping, AgroMap provides farmers, agribusinesses, and policymakers with precise insights to optimize land use, reduce environmental impact, and improve food security.

Earthshot Labs

Earthshot Labs is dedicated to large-scale ecosystem restoration, using advanced technology and scientific research to regenerate degraded landscapes. By combining artificial intelligence, ecological modeling, and community-driven solutions, Earthshot Labs supports reforestation efforts, biodiversity conservation, and nature-based climate solutions worldwide.

SustainCERT

SustainCERT is a climate impact verifier focused on building trust and credibility in the climate ecosystem. The company combines climate expertise with technology, to develop innovative digital solutions that increase the speed and accuracy at which climate impact can be verified and unlock scale in climate action. They audit climate projects and impacts in carbon markets and value chains to verify the GHG reductions and removals and allow companies to credibly claim the impact of their interventions.