Cocoa, Coffee & Coconuts

The majority of Kirkland Signature^™ chocolate products are made from cocoa sourced through sustainable programs, some of which are from Costco’s Sassandra Cocoa program, sourcing cocoa from Côte d’Ivoire and Ecuador. The Sassandra Program (“Program”) is a partnership that began with Costco, Blommer and Olam in October 2009, and is named after the Sassandra River in the southwest region of Côte d’Ivoire. This is the original location of the cooperatives from where we source our cocoa beans. Since then, the Program has expanded and remains exclusive to Costco.

The Program – Côte d’Ivoire

The Program in Côte d’Ivoire is designed to provide a quality product that is traceable, improves profits and livelihoods for the farmers/cooperative members, and introduces respectful environmental practices. Each of our cooperatives are audited annually by an independent third party. To date, these audits have been conducted by Intertek. Highlights from Côte d’Ivoire include:

• Traceable and segregated cocoa;
• Child Labor Monitoring and Remediation System coverage (CLMRS);
• Farms GPS polygon mapped to reduce risk of deforestation with a goal of 100%;
• Social infrastructure investment, which includes schools, health centers, maternity wards, and community investments such as water pumps and storage facilities;
• Community development with a focus on women’s empowerment through literacy and numeracy programs, alternative income generating activities, village savings and loan programs, and community gender equality sensitization programs;
• Premiums paid for quality product;
• Cooperative development and training; and
• Improved production through financing and farmer training

Costco is dedicated to preventing and remediating child labor wherever it is found. Unfortunately, child labor is a long-term systemic issue in cocoa supply chains and requires a multi-faceted approach focusing on continuous improvement and broadening awareness. We have had child labor monitoring and remediation programs in place for several years. When cases of child labor are identified our partners begin to work on implementing a remediation plan for that family. They also conduct follow-up visits to ensure the remediation plan is effective. Examples of our multifaceted remediations include:

• Increasing access to quality education through building classrooms
• Facilitating the issuance of birth certificates, which allow children to attend school
• Providing school kits often needed for classwork
• Building awareness in the community of the dangers to children including, but not limited to, carrying heavy loads, using machetes, and exposure to pesticides
• Supporting women through various programs to provide them with skills and resources that help them support and champion their families’ welfare and education

More specific in-depth Sassandra Program information can be found in the Côte d’Ivoire Report and the Costco Connection article, Cocoa channels. Additional information about cocoa and forest conservation can be found on our Environmental Impacts page.

The Program – Ecuador

Costco also sources a small percentage of cocoa from Ecuador. We supported a program in 2018/19 with our partners Blommer and Heifer International that was aimed at improving the living conditions of cocoa farmers in the Ecuadorian Amazon. As a result, cocoa-producing households in this program improved their incomes and strengthened their resilience against climate change. More information can be found in the Ecuador Report.

Costco has numerous Kirkland Signature^™ coffee items sourced from around the world. Some are Fair Trade Certified^™, including Kirkland Signature K-Cups^® and others are Utz Certified like Kirkland Signature Instant Coffee. This certification reflects Costco’s commitment to source sustainably grown coffee and to maintain quality relationships with the farmers who supply it. Other coffee items are supported by sustainability programs that focus on farmer training, education, housing and/or health care.

Each item has a story. More information can be found about these programs in our Costco Connection article, Family perks, as well this Rwandan video and Guatemalan video.

In addition, Kirkland Signature Ground Colombian Coffee is nitrogen-flushed, allowing for a lighter can, which in turn allows Costco to put fewer trucks on the road and to lower its carbon footprint.

One of the sources of Kirkland Signature^™ Coconut Water is the Philippines, where over 30% of the country’s households derive their income from coconut. However, this income is low due to lower productivity. A portion of past Costco sales supports the Hope in a Coconut program, which improves farmer incomes through the replanting of higher yield seedlings, intercrop training, education opportunities and direct market linkages. As of June 2021, the program has shown an average 92% increase in total income for program farmers compared to 2016 when the program was started. This is due to increased coconut yields as well as income generation from the intercropping of fruit and vegetables, and raising livestock. More information can be found in this Hope in a Coconut program summary.

Farmers in this program are trained and given resources on how to grow vegetables and other cash crops. This proved to be helpful when COVID-19 caused local markets to close and people had difficulty accessing fresh and nutritious food. For stories about some of the farmers in the program and how they have been able to provide for themselves, their family and their community, please view our Hope Stories summary.

Access to and availability of classrooms is a challenge in the Philippines. To date, sales have helped to build 14 elementary school classrooms, with one using eco-bricks made from recycled water bottles. This has directly benefited 1,700 students under the age of 13. These elementary schools are located in coconut farming communities in the Southern Philippines where access to public school is limited. Some of these classrooms are in indigenous people and Islamic communities, where the mother tongue/child’s language is used as the medium of instruction and the curriculum includes indigenized classes.

COCONUT HARVESTING

Costco does not support the use of monkeys for coconut harvesting. We are committed to ensure suppliers abide by these same principles and only use human labor. Where there is a known risk due to cultural norms that may have allowed this practice, we require our suppliers to contractually prohibit the use of any animal labor from their coconut providers. We also require these suppliers to audit their farms and have a third-party independently verify compliance.