Barry Callebaut Cote d'Ivoire RSF (IFC-36210)

Countries
  • Ivory Coast
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
San Pedro and Abidjan
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
Financial Institutions
  • International Finance Corporation (IFC)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Active
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
A
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Jun 24, 2016
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
SOCIETE IVOIRIENNE DE CACAO BIOPARTENAIRE
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Agriculture and Forestry
  • Industry and Trade
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Amount (USD)
Not Disclosed
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Dec 18, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Feb 2, 2016

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

The proposed investment involves a Risk Sharing Facility with two Barry Callebaut (BC) subsidiaries in Cote d'Ivoire: Societe Africaine de Cacao (SACO), a Barry Callebaut's subsidiary in Cote d'Ivoire and Biopartenaire (BP) which is 100% owned by Barry Callebaut; to provide non-cash lending with a short to medium term tenor by directly delivering inputs/services (fertilizers) to a large number of smallholder/farmer suppliers within BP's and SACO's partner cooperatives. Repayment of the loan will be deducted from the payment of the cocoa delivered by each farmer and cooperative. The project will also involve participation from at least one local Microfinance Institution, at which participating farmers will maintain a savings account to be used as collateral for the loan. Each borrower will be required to deposit a significant loan amount upfront in a savings account to be located at the MFI (through mobile money technology where available). This will help them establish a bankable credit history.

 

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.








The IFC review identified significant environmental and social risks typical of the cocoa sector in Côte d’Ivoire, particularly related to child labor, biodiversity loss from deforestation, supply-chain traceability gaps, and community safety risks linked to transport. People affected include smallholder cocoa farmers (typically managing 1–3 hectare plots), cooperative members, seasonal and permanent workers at SACO and BP, children in cocoa-growing communities vulnerable to child labor, and surrounding communities exposed to road safety risks. Mitigation measures focus on certified and traceable sourcing, child labor monitoring and remediation systems, farmer training on good agricultural and environmental practices, biodiversity protection through geo-localisation of farms, improved labor standards and grievance mechanisms, and strengthened environmental and social management systems under IFC Performance Standards 1, 2, 4, and 6, although residual risks remain where cocoa is sourced outside certified supply chains.


 


 

 

People Affected By This Project
People Affected By This Project refers to the communities of people likely to be affected positively or negatively by a project.

The project negatively impacts smallholder cocoa farmers and farm workers who face ongoing risks related to child labor, occupational health and safety hazards, and limited oversight in non-certified and non-traceable parts of the supply chain. Children in cocoa-growing communities remain particularly vulnerable to child labor risks, especially where monitoring and remediation systems are still being established. Local communities may also be affected by increased road safety risks from cocoa transport and logistics activities, while forest-dependent communities and the wider public face indirect negative impacts from biodiversity loss and deforestation linked to cocoa production in areas that are not yet fully traceable or certified.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.
Private Actor Relationship
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

Barry Callebaut AG is the parent company and global chocolate and cocoa manufacturer. Société Africaine de Cacao (SACO) is Barry Callebaut’s main cocoa processing subsidiary in Côte d’Ivoire, responsible for sourcing cocoa from cooperatives and processing it locally. Biopartenaire is part of the Biolands Group, which is wholly owned by Barry Callebaut, and functions as a direct sourcing and farm services arm that works with farmers and village coordinators to supply sustainably certified cocoa to SACO and the wider Barry Callebaut supply chain.

Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

Barry Callebaut AG
Headquartered in Switzerland, Barry Callebaut AG is the world’s leading manufacturer of chocolate and cocoa products. The company is fully vertically integrated, covering the entire value chain from sourcing cocoa beans to producing semi-finished products and liquid and molded chocolate for the global food industry.

 

Société Africaine de Cacao (SACO)
SACO is Barry Callebaut’s main cocoa processing subsidiary in Côte d’Ivoire, headquartered in Abidjan. It operates two cocoa processing facilities in San Pedro and Abidjan and sources cocoa primarily from partner cooperatives, Biopartenaire’s network of registered farmers, and other local suppliers. SACO does not own cocoa farms and processes most of the cocoa it procures locally, with the remainder exported.

 

Biopartenaire (BP)
Biopartenaire is a direct sourcing and farm services entity operating in Côte d’Ivoire and Tanzania and is part of the Biolands Group, which has been wholly owned by Barry Callebaut since 2014. It works directly with farmers and village coordinators to source sustainably produced cocoa, providing training, professional services, agricultural inputs, and support for certification, and is certified under UTZ and Rainforest Alliance standards.


Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

Mr. Andres Tschannen
Operations Manager – Global Cocoa Sustainability
Barry Callebaut Sourcing AG
c/o Société Africaine de Cacao
Rue Pierre et Marie Curie
01 BP 1045 Abidjan
Cote d’Ivoire
E-mail: mailto:andres_tschannen@barry-callebaut.com
Phone: +225 09 03 25 01

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC

The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an IFC or MIGA- financed project. If you submit a complaint to the CAO, they may assist you in resolving a dispute with the company and/or investigate to assess whether the IFC is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. If you want to submit a complaint electronically, you can email the CAO at CAO@worldbankgroup.org. You can learn more about the CAO and how to file a complaint at http://www.cao-ombudsman.org/

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How it works