Record cocoa prices on global markets – yet many cocoa farmers still live in poverty. Lidl is addressing this imbalance by transitioning its permanently listed private label chocolate bar range to Fairtrade’s Living Income Programme. In doing so, we are making Fairtrade cocoa the standard and taking responsibility for the people at the beginning of our supply chain.
The cocoa sector is facing a paradox. While cocoa prices reached historic highs of over USD 10,000 per tonne on commodity markets in 2024, more than 90% of cocoa farmers in West Africa are still estimated to live below the subsistence level (Cocoa Platform 2024), with around 30 to 60% in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire even living in extreme poverty (Frontiers 2021). This is because high global market prices do not fully reach cocoa farmers – and they do not resolve the structural challenges. What is needed, therefore, are companies willing to take responsibility – in a long-term, binding way and at a scale that can drive real impact.
Lidl has been committed to improving conditions in the cocoa sector for more than ten years. As early as 2014, we were among the first partners in the Fairtrade cocoa programme. With our private label range Way To Go, we took a further step from 2020 onwards: through additional premiums and investments in agricultural projects, we supported cocoa farmers and their families in increasing their income and improving their living conditions. Way To Go demonstrated that change is possible – and laid an important foundation.
Building on this, we are now going even further. From mid-2026, we will pay the Fairtrade’s living income cocoa programme across our entire permanently listed private label chocolate bar range in five countries. The rollout began in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Austria. Our commitment is set for a minimum of five years, regardless of market fluctuations.
With the Living Income Programme, we are deliberately going beyond existing Fairtrade standards and setting new benchmarks. Our aim is to close the income gap for cocoa farmers in participating cooperatives in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire – in a measurable and long-term way. As a retail partner with the highest procurement volumes of Fairtrade cocoa worldwide, we are using our leverage to drive structural change.
"A living income in cocoa farming cannot be guaranteed through volatile global market prices alone. As the world’s largest buyer of Fairtrade cocoa, we have the opportunity to drive real change. With the Living Income Programme, we are using this influence – for better incomes and a future in which cocoa farmers can make a living from their work."
The Living Income Programme builds on the Fairtrade system: in addition to the Fairtrade minimum price and premium, as well as the Living Income Reference Price (LIRP), Lidl pays a fixed amount per tonne of cocoa – the so-called Living Income Differential. These funds are invested in productivity improvements and income diversification. The impact is documented in collaboration with Fairtrade and verified by FLOCERT. This ensures transparency and accountability – and creates the foundation for genuine development.
Lidl absorbs the additional costs and does not pass them on to consumers. In this way, we aim to make more sustainable consumption easier in everyday life and to demonstrate that responsibility and highest quality at the best price can go hand in hand. By choosing Lidl’s private label chocolate bars, our customers automatically contribute to supporting living incomes in cocoa farming.
Because we believe that fair chocolate should not be a privilege. It should become the standard. That is our ambition. And that is what we are working towards.
