Environmental Performance of Chocolate Produced in Ghana Using Life Cycle Assessment

Abstract

Ghana is an important cocoa producer and exporter and this production is of high economic importance. Increasing interest in the sustainable productions of cocoa/chocolate necessitated the need to assess the environmental impacts associated with the production of different chocolate variants (extra dark (EDC), dark (DC), milk (MC) and flavoured milk (FMC) in Ghana, including the identification of environmental hotspots for improvement. The life cycle assessment tool was used following the CML_IA and CED impact assessment methods. EDC had the lowest scores for most of the impact categories while FMC was most impactful. For Global Warming Potential (GWP), EDC and FMC were estimated to be 1.61 kg CO2 eq. and 4.21 kg CO2 eq., respectively. CED ranged from 1.44 × 102 to 1.50 × 102 MJ-eq. Chocolate manufacturing phase was generally more impactful than cocoa cultivation due to high emissions from milk and sugar production. The impact scores for 100 g packaged chocolate bar were the lowest in comparison to 300 g chocolate pouches and 12.5 g packaged chocolate strips. GWP for 100 g and 12.5 g were 0.20 kg CO2 eq. and 0.39 kg CO2 eq., respectively. Comparing different destination points for the manufactured chocolate, impact scores for the international destination were similar to those recorded for local destinations. Improvement options are suggested for all phases to ensure more sustainable chocolate production and distribution.

Applications of Life Cycle Assessment in the Chocolate Industry: A State-of-the-Art Analysis Based on Systematic Review

“…A3 was the aim of 12 studies (48%). For example, Boakye-Yiadom et al [ 28 ] compared extreme dark chocolate (EDC, with 72% cocoa percentage), dark chocolate (DC, with 56% cocoa percentage), milk chocolate (MC, with 38% cocoa percentage), and flavored milk chocolate (FMC, with 38% cocoa percentage). Their results show that DC performed the best in most of the impact categories, while FMC demonstrated the greatest environmental impacts.…”

“…The life cycle stages of chocolate can be generally categorized into three phases, i.e., upstream, manufacturing, and downstream phases [ 19 , 28 ]. As shown in Figure 5 , the life cycle of chocolate begins with the cultivation of cocoa, the acquisition of other ingredients, such as sugar and milk, as well as the production of packaging materials [ 28 , 35 , 42 , 43 , 44 ].…”

Global environmental and social spillover effects of EU's food trade

“…These are some of many international transactions that take place in the world economy for satisfying EU's demand for food, in turn resulting in spillover effects (Figures 3, 4). The agri-food sector is contributing to environmental pressures worldwide, for example, quinoa demand in Peru is driving land use impacts (Bedoya-Perales et al, 2018), agriculture is contributing to degradation of water quality in Brazil (de Mello et al, 2020), cocoa production in Ghana has implications for soil, air and water quality (Boakye-Yiadom et al, 2021), environmental impacts from livestock farming in Mexico (Giraldi-Díaz et al, 2021), impacts related to biodiversity and ecotoxicity from beef production in Argentina (Fischer & Bilenca, 2020), soil erosion in Kenya due to agricultural expansion (Maeda et al, 2010). These are just selected examples that demonstrate the wide-ranging impacts driven by the agri-food sector, and the need to devise strategies for ensuring that livelihoods can be sustained without putting pressures on Earth's ecosystems.…”

Cereal and Confectionary Packaging: Background, Application and Shelf-Life Extension

“…Additionally, the originality of the product, an important factor of food safety, may not be ensured [ 13 , 67 ]. For this and other reasons (e.g., communication), many described packaging concepts (still) include an additional packaging layer, namely paper or paperboard [ 13 , 27 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 , 92 ].…”