More than 200 senior business leaders and industry experts from around the world participated in Chocovision 2016 from the 7 to 9 June to discuss strategic topics, chances and challenges that are relevant for the whole chain of the global cocoa and chocolate business sector.

Switzerland was once again the place where this biennial business conference was held under the theme “Make it Matter”. Among all the talks, the speech which stood out was the one done by Michael Hastings, Global Head of Corporate Citizenship at KPMG, who said “what matters most in the chocolate industry is not the delight of the consumer but the dignity of the farmer”.

Three intense days in which the emphasis was on taking CocoaAction to the next level, as summarized by Antoine de Saint-Affrique, CEO of Barry Callebaut AG. Adding to the sense of urgency, he pointed out that, because of global warming, because of tree aging, and because of farmer poverty, time is running out. Saint-Affrique urged the industry, governments and civil society to continue working to address issues such as deforestation or women’s empowerment. “We need to make sure that the trees we planted over the last few years start bearing fruits. We owe it to the children in the origin countries, we owe it to the people across the world who work in chocolate, and we owe it to the chocolate lovers of the world”.