Environmental Footprints of Cocoa, Cocoa Products and Chocolate in Germany

ifeu paper 02/2022

Authors: Claudius Grehl, Guido Reinhardt

In recent years, cocoa and chocolate have been used as prominent examples to raise public awareness of the environmental impact of food, using indicators such as carbon, water and land footprints. In the literature, results for environmental footprints of cocoa and cocoa products vary widely, which limits their use in environmental assessments of food products, including life cycle assessments, or as a purchase recommendation. This is because analyses are often based on partly inconsistent assessment approaches, varying system boundaries, or different methodological approaches. The aim of this study is to present the most relevant environmental footprints for cocoa and cocoa products, such as chocolate, that are consumed in Germany, based on consistent and up-to-date assessment methods.