From Bean to Bite

Introduction

Magnum cocoa beans have a long way to go before they become Magnum chocolate. We’re working closely with the Rainforest Alliance to make sure all our cocoa beans are responsibly sourced. It’s about quality and sustainability throughout every step of the journey.

Harvesting

Cocoa seeds are grown in pods that change colour as they ripen: from green to red, then red to purple and from purple to yellow. A single pod can contain between 30 – 50 cocoa beans.

The journey from cocoa beans to chocolate relies on the knowledge and skill of our cocoa farmers. Working with the Rainforest Alliance ensures that farmers are trained to know which cocoa pods are ready to be picked just by looking at them. Harvest too early and the pods won’t be ripe. Harvest too late and they’ll dry up.

Fermenting

On Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms, farmers are taught that the best way to get the most from their cocoa beans is to leave them to ferment.

Drying

The farmers know the best place to dry their fermented beans is out under the scorching sun. They rake through them regularly to make sure they all dry evenly – some farmers even dance across the beans to spread them out.

Selecting and roasting

Only beans that meet our standards will become Magnum chocolate. Farmers are trained to pick the best ones, which they package and send to us ready for the next stage of the journey: roasting.

The cocoa beans are fragile, so we roast them gently. We start at 100◦C and gradually turn up the heat, roasting for at least 20mins.

Making Magnum Ice cream

Perfectly roasted cocoa beans are crushed and ground into a rich cocoa paste, then turned into liquid chocolate. Other essential ingredients such as cocoa butter are stirred into the mix until it reaches the perfect taste and thickness.

Sustainability

Today, over 98% of Magnum cocoa beans are sustainably sourced from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms. We’re working hard to make it 100% very soon.

The beans help raise the farmers’ incomes, more women have the freedom to live the way they want and more children have access to education:

"I’ve realised the value of education and the need to send my children to school. Their attention should be on books, not on the farm with me."

Alhaji Mustapha Amenya, farmer on a Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farm.

We’re committed to creating change for the better across West Africa - from Ghana to Ivory Coast and Cameroon - and improving the lives of farmers and their families.

Discover more about Rainforest Alliance.


Unilever is trots op de toewijding aan duurzaamheid en het inkopen van Rainforest Alliance gecertificeerde cacaobonen uit Tanzania voor 3 producten van het Magnum-portfolio. De lokale marktsituatie van cacao uit Tanzania is recentelijk veranderd en daarom is de supply chain op dit moment niet in staat om Rainforest Alliance gecertificeerde cacaobonen uit Tanzania te leveren. Dit betekent dat we voorlopig een hoeveelheid cacao van Rainforest Alliance gecertificeerde boerderijen zullen kopen die gelijkwaardig zijn aan het volume van de desbetreffende 4 Magnum producten die worden gebruikt in ons assortiment met met Rainforest Alliance gecertificeerde cacaobonen uit Tanzania. We verwachten dat dit snel zal worden opgelost. We stellen uw geduld en begrip op prijs en zullen ons blijven inzetten voor de Rainforest Alliance certificering.