Comprehensive life cycle assessment of cocoa and chocolate supply chains: Environmental sustainability perspectives

Abstract

Background: Cocoa and chocolate products form a globally significant agri-food chain with substantial economic, cultural, and nutritional value. However, their production and processing are associated with pronounced environmental impacts, primarily due to resource-intensive cocoa farming, complex international supply networks, and energy-demanding manufacturing processes. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has become a widely used tool to quantify these impacts, but issues related to data gaps, methodological inconsistencies, and limited scope still constrain its effectiveness. Scope and approach: This review provides a comprehensive analysis of LCA applications across the cocoa and chocolate supply chains, adopting a cradle-to-grave perspective that encompasses cultivation, processing, packaging, distribution, consumption, and end-of-life phases. Emphasis is placed on methodological evolution, including the integration of hybrid-LCA and multi-regional input-output (MRIO) models. In addition, the review examines challenges related to system boundaries, functional units, co-product allocation methods, and the incorporation of circular economy principles, social LCA (S-LCA), and life cycle costing (LCC). Key findings: Cocoa cultivation and industrial chocolate production are consistently identified as the main contributors to environmental burdens, particularly in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, human toxicity, and cumulative energy demand. Agricultural practices including conventional, organic, and agroforestry systems strongly influence environmental performance. However, limited field-level data, inconsistent methodological choices, and insufficient attention to socio-economic dimensions hinder the comparability and policy relevance of current studies. Recent efforts toward by-product valorization, such as the conversion of cocoa pod husks into bio-based materials or chemicals, offer promising eco-efficiency gains but remain underexplored in LCA frameworks. Conclusions and future perspectives: Improving the robustness and applicability of LCA in the cocoa sector requires harmonization of functional units, better allocation procedures, and enhanced data collection across diverse production systems. Integrating hybrid-LCA and MRIO approaches can better capture indirect environmental burdens in globalized supply chains. Future studies should also consider circular economy strategies, socioeconomic trade-offs, and consumer behavior during product use and end-of-life stages to enable a more holistic understanding of sustainability performance. These advancements will support evidence-based decisionmaking for industry and policymakers and contribute to the development of resilient, low-impact cocoa and chocolate supply systems aligned with global sustainability goals.