Mars and ofi have announced a new five-year collaboration running from 2025 to 2029 to advance climate-smart and regenerative cocoa production in Ecuador. The program is designed to reduce the carbon footprint of cocoa across their shared supply chain while also improving farm productivity and strengthening farmer resilience.

The scale of the initiative makes it important. In its first phase, more than 960 farmers across key cocoa-growing regions in Ecuador are expected to adopt regenerative agriculture practices across more than 9,000 hectares of farmland. The program is also expected to benefit around 4,800 people in surrounding cocoa-growing communities, showing that the partnership is being positioned not only as a supply chain decarbonisation effort, but also as a broader rural resilience initiative.

 

Cocoa supply chain climate action is moving from targets to farm-level intervention

 

The partnership builds on more than 15 years of sustainable cocoa sourcing collaboration globally between Mars and ofi, including around a decade of work together in Ecuador. What makes this phase more significant is the stronger link to both companies’ net-zero ambitions and their science-based climate commitments.

Rather than focusing only on high-level supply chain goals, the program moves climate action into the farm system itself. Farmers are expected to transition from full-sun monoculture cocoa production toward multistrata agroforestry systems, which are designed to mimic natural forest structures. This model can help improve biodiversity, support pollinators and soil microorganisms, and create more natural protection against pests and disease while also improving long-term farm resilience.

 

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Agroforestry and biochar make the program commercially and environmentally relevant

 

The technical design of the collaboration suggests that the companies are trying to combine emissions reduction with more resilient cocoa production. Alongside agroforestry, farmers will also be supported with lower-carbon fertilizers, better crop residue management, and biochar applications.

This combination matters because cocoa farming is increasingly exposed to climate risk, soil degradation, and productivity pressure. By introducing practices that improve soil health, increase carbon removals, and lower greenhouse gas emissions, the partnership aims to make farms more stable over time rather than simply less carbon-intensive. That gives the project greater strategic value for both companies, since supply resilience is becoming just as important as carbon reduction in agricultural value chains.

 

Ecuador is being used as a practical model for supply chain transition

 

The focus on Ecuador is notable because it gives the collaboration a defined operating geography where Mars and ofi already have a long-standing sourcing relationship. That can improve the chances of implementation because the program is not starting from zero. It is building on existing supplier networks, local knowledge, and an established sourcing base.

This also suggests the companies may be using Ecuador as a practical model for how climate and regenerative agriculture interventions can be scaled in cocoa supply chains more broadly. If the program delivers measurable reductions in emissions while also improving yields and farmer resilience, it could become a template for similar efforts in other cocoa-producing origins.

 

Farmer economics are central to the transition

 

A key theme in the announcement is that regenerative agriculture needs to be accessible to farmers if it is to scale. Both companies emphasize reducing barriers to adoption, lowering dependence on costly inputs, and creating stronger long-term livelihood conditions.

That is significant because supply chain decarbonisation in agriculture often fails when it adds expectations without improving farm economics. In this case, the collaboration is clearly trying to tie climate action to farmer outcomes by promoting practices that can support productivity, resilience, and potentially new income opportunities. That makes the program more commercially credible than a narrow emissions-reduction exercise alone.

 

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A stronger model of shared supply chain investment is emerging

 

The broader importance of the collaboration lies in the structure of the partnership itself. Mars and ofi are presenting this as a joint long-term investment in a shared supply chain rather than a simple buyer-supplier sustainability project. That matters because the most difficult parts of agricultural decarbonisation often sit in shared sourcing ecosystems where no single company can transform outcomes alone.

By aligning their net-zero ambitions and co-investing in farm-level change, the two companies are showing a more collaborative model of value chain transition. It reflects a growing recognition that credible supply chain sustainability requires deeper coordination between brands, suppliers, and farmers if emissions targets are to translate into real operational change.

 

What this signals

 

The larger takeaway is that cocoa sustainability is moving into a more climate-focused and implementation-driven phase. Mars and ofi are not only talking about sustainable sourcing in general terms. They are linking cocoa supply chain transformation to agroforestry, soil health, emissions reduction, carbon removals, and farmer resilience in one structured program.

If successful, the partnership could help show that net-zero supply chain progress in cocoa depends on more than traceability or certification. It depends on reshaping how cocoa is grown, how farmers are supported, and how climate and productivity goals are pursued together. That is what makes this collaboration more than a routine sustainability announcement. It is an example of how agricultural supply chains are starting to treat decarbonisation as part of long-term supply security.