The world’s most influential cocoa sustainability forum will return to Amsterdam in February 2026, bringing together industry leaders to tackle mounting pressures that threaten the future of chocolate production across the globe.
The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) announced its 2026 Partnership Meeting programme today, setting 17-18 February as the dates when executives, government officials, farmer organizations and sustainability experts will gather at the historic Beurs van Berlage venue. This year’s theme cuts straight to the challenge facing the sector: “Securing Cocoa’s Future in a Changing World.”
It’s not hyperbole. The cocoa industry finds itself squeezed from multiple directions simultaneously. Climate disruption is reshaping growing conditions in traditional production regions, new European regulations are forcing unprecedented supply chain transparency, and consumer demands for ethical sourcing continue to intensify. Add persistent diseases ravaging cocoa trees and supply chain instability, and you’ve got an industry at a genuine crossroads.
“This is not business as usual,” said Chris Vincent, President of WCF. “Cocoa’s future depends on fresh thinking, faster action and stronger partnerships.”
The programme reflects that urgency. One major focus will be tackling cocoa diseases that have devastated plantations, particularly in West Africa. Swollen shoot virus and frosty pod rot remain serious threats, with swollen shoot alone capable of reducing yields by up to 50% and eventually killing infected trees. The meeting will bring together scientists, farmers and institutions to develop what organizers describe as fresh global responses to these biological challenges.
Regulation looms equally large on the agenda. Companies operating in Europe face rapidly evolving sustainability requirements that demand new levels of due diligence across their supply chains. The Partnership Meeting will explore how businesses can prepare for these changes, with WCF promising support through specialized tools and standards designed to help members navigate the compliance landscape.
What makes this year’s gathering particularly significant is the participation of senior officials from Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, the two West African nations that together produce roughly two-thirds of the world’s cocoa. Their presence signals a crucial conversation about origin-country leadership at a time when producing nations are asserting greater control over their cocoa sectors and pushing for fairer value distribution along the supply chain.
But the meeting won’t just focus on established powerhouses. Programme sessions will spotlight emerging producers from Brazil, Ecuador, Nigeria, Cameroon and Indonesia, acknowledging their growing influence on global cocoa markets. These newer producing regions represent both competition for traditional suppliers and potential models for more sustainable production systems.
The Cocoa TechXchange will return as a dynamic showcase for innovation, creating space for industry leaders, technology developers and farmer-focused organizations to connect over practical solutions. It’s the kind of cross-pollination that organizers hope can accelerate the adoption of new approaches across the sector.
Amsterdam Cocoa Week has become the industry’s annual pilgrimage, with WCF maintaining its partnership with CHOCOA to ensure alignment between different stakeholder groups. While CHOCOA engages broader industry and civil society dialogues, WCF’s Partnership Meeting maintains focus on high-level strategy and sector transformation.
The timing couldn’t be more critical. Cocoa prices surged to historic highs in 2024 and early 2025 as production declined and demand remained steady, exposing vulnerabilities in a supply chain already strained by aging trees, limited farmer investment, and climate challenges. Those price spikes eventually moderated, but the underlying structural problems persist.
WCF represents over 80% of the global cocoa sector, including farmer cooperatives, processors, manufacturers, traders and supply chain companies. That breadth gives the organization unusual convening power, but it also creates expectations that the Partnership Meeting will produce more than just discussions. Stakeholders across the value chain want tangible action plans, not another round of aspirational commitments.
Vincent’s comment about moving “from talk to tangible change” acknowledges that tension directly. The cocoa sector has hosted countless conferences and sustainability initiatives over the past decade, yet farmer poverty remains endemic, deforestation continues, and child labor persists in some production areas despite years of intervention programmes.
As regulatory scrutiny intensifies and younger consumers demand proof of ethical sourcing, companies can no longer afford the gap between sustainability rhetoric and measurable outcomes. That’s what makes February’s gathering in Amsterdam particularly consequential. The cocoa industry needs to demonstrate it can evolve fast enough to meet the challenges reshaping its future.
Whether two days in Amsterdam can catalyze that transformation remains to be seen. But with climate pressures mounting, regulations tightening, and competitive dynamics shifting, the cocoa sector knows it’s running out of time for incremental approaches. The 2026 Partnership Meeting represents another chance to prove the industry can match the scale of its challenges with equally ambitious solutions.