On March 20, The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) concluded its largest-ever Partnership Meeting in São Paulo, Brazil, by underscoring the need for radical collaboration across the cocoa sector. Uniting close to 500 global leaders at a time of significant market disruption and intensifying regulatory pressures, the event focused on strengthening resilience and enabling sustainable growth through developments in key areas including data, research, and disease management.

Under the theme "Our Future: Resilience Through Sustainability," the two-day summit convened representatives from governments, cocoa-growing communities, companies, civil society, and academia. Speakers argued that global challenges such as climate change and disease have shifted the need for a sustainable cocoa sector from a moral imperative to a matter of survival. As the sector faces unprecedented pressure to deliver at speed and scale, this moment demands coordinated, practical approaches towards efficient execution. 

"Crisis leads to innovation but it can also accelerate collaboration," says Chris Vincent, president of the World Cocoa Foundation. “As the cocoa sector navigates a period of uncertainty and transformation, recent challenges have demonstrated its interconnectedness. The energy and solutions emerging from São Paulo show that the sector is ready collaborate to achieve resilience through sustainability, to invest in innovation and to support cocoa communities worldwide."

Radical, pre-competitive collaboration

Speakers emphasized that addressing the systemic issues in cocoa landscapes and communities requires pre-competitive collaboration, including with governments and farmers, to create sustainable, long-term resilience.

Hosting the Partnership Meeting in Brazil strengthened Global South-South collaboration and learning. Delegates explored how Brazil's leadership in agricultural innovation—from crop diversification and regenerative farming to small-scale mechanization—is supporting the country's ambitions to double its cocoa production by 2030. Field visits and technical panels highlighted practical, scalable approaches to cocoa agroforestry and mechanization that could support producer countries facing similar climate and productivity pressures.

Science and data for farmer-centered solutions

Breakout sessions explored how data-driven strategies—from income tracking to crop forecasting, disease surveillance and biodiversity— can support adaptation and bring an entrepreneurial spirit. Delegates underlined the need for data to be shared equally among origin and consuming countries, enabling farmers to make informed decisions that increase productivity and enhance the resilience of their income into the future.  

As one of the main challenges threatening world's cocoa supply, panelists advocated for a comprehensive, shared research base around diseases and increased investment in disease prevention strategies like farmer training, improved planting materials and digital technologies.

Cocoa sustainability through a business-oriented lens

Plenary discussions examined whether historically high cocoa prices could catalyze transformation or deepen existing structural challenges. There was a shared consensus that resilience must be tied directly to productivity, profitability and farmer wellbeing, rather than short-term market gains. This must be clearly conveyed to the consumer, who needs a simple proposition.

WCF reaffirmed its role as a platform for pre-competitive collaboration and announced new cross-sector workstreams on regulatory compliance and global disease management. Progress also continues across the Cocoa & Forests Initiative and joint action plans to tackle child labor.

A collective call to action

As the event closed, WCF and its partners issued a strong call for shared responsibility and action across the cocoa value chain. “Resilience is not just about surviving disruption. It is about building a system in which farmers, companies and communities can thrive,” said Vincent. “The conversations and commitments made here in Brazil will shape the future of cocoa and define the next phase of sustainability in the sector.”

Related: WCF meeting to explore innovation, resilience themes