CoVaCoa
Value Chains and Consumer Decisions – Remote Effects of Governance and Product Biographies Using Cocoa as an Example
The research project of the inter- and transdisciplinary team of scientists from Osnabrück University and the practice partner Ludwig Weinrich GmbH were technically and financially supported by the DBU.
Within the project, we problematized the causal relationships between global value chains, the control over the sustainability of its production at origin and its final consumption in Europe.
Processes of globalization have led to
- an increasing spatial and cultural distance between consumers and the origin of their consumed products,
- weakening product and process standards to the point that their effective enforcement only applies to an ever smaller fraction of the population they are meant to protect, and to a diminishing share of products consumed,
- a growing complexity of governance structures regulating transnational production networks as well as a reinforcement of social and ecological effects of purchasing decisions.
Simultaneously, consumer behavior has become more differentiated, with social and ecological aspects gaining relevance for increasing parts of the potential customer base.
Food producers and retailers have recognized this as an opportunity and are marketing their products accordingly, using not only traditional forms of advertising but also labels and certifications of product quality and origin with varying degrees of meaning. There are many studies that examine particular aspects of these developments, but an interdisciplinary consideration of the entire interdependency between consumer decisions, marketing, trade, production, governance as well as ecological and social effects from a transnational perspective is lacking so far.
WP1 investigated the various forms of governance that define each agent’s legal scope of action within Ghana’s cocoa production network. The purpose of this part of our research was to clarify each stakeholder’s room for maneuver within the production network and to pinpoint opportunities for them to increase the social and ecological sustainability of their respective actions.
More specifically, we intended to provide each group of agents with information as to how they can reduce the negative externalities in their engagement with Ghana’s cocoa sector, enhance the ecological and social footprint of their economic activities and minimize the risk of negative public attention as well as to enable them to mitigate the long-term adjustment cost of reorganizing their activities towards more sustainable sourcing, production and processing practices.
Finally, we aimed to support all agents in their engagement with Ghana’s cocoa sector by advancing their knowledge and understanding of the sector in general, and their role therein in particular.
Responsibility: Prof. Dr. Andrea Lenschow
Collaboration: Prof. Dr. Martin Franz, Miles Yannik Ahlemann
WP2 aimed at examining the social, ecological and economic effects of changed consumer decisions on the Ghanaian cocoa production network and on the cocoa production sites in Ghana.
Relationships of human-environment systems in this global network and on-site were analyzed in order to identify influencing factors, perceptions and positions to develop suitable proposals. This serves to transform the Ghanaian cocoa production network into a more sustainable one, while at the same time taking into account and ensuring the needs of the people's livelihood as well as nature conservation.
Responsibility: Prof. Dr. Martin Franz
Collaboration: Prof. Dr. Andrea Lenschow, Dr. Carsten Felgentreff, Jana Rülke
WP3 examined which information content and types of information provision on the production of cocoa products can influence the preference structures and consumption behavior of consumers. Specifically, it examined which psychological factors influence the sustainable consumption of cocoa products, and how various information about the ecological or social effects of cocoa production in the countries of origin affects consumers’ problem awareness, attitudes and actual purchase decisions. In addition, it is also considered how different formats of information provided - for example, the use of different media such as photographic material or virtual reality, or the focus of the content conveyed in video messages - affect the sustainable consumption behavior of consumers.
Responsibility: Prof. Dr. Stefanie Engel
Collaboration: Prof. Dr. Karsten Müller, Prof. Dr. Andrea Lenschow, Prof. Dr. Ann-Kathrin Kößler, Carolin Janssen, Dr. Shirin Betzler, Hannes Campe, Ioana Adriana Branga-Peicu
In WP4, the results of the other content-related work packages were brought together in order to answer the questions of the project from multiple perspectives. To this end, the results from the various work packages were discussed and interconnected from the beginning of the project in a series of moderated design workshops in which all participating scientists and company representatives as well as representatives of certification organizations take part. In this way, the transfer of the project results into practice was supported.
Responsibility: Entire project team
WP5 included the activities for the target group-specific dissemination of the project results. It was also intended for public relations and marketing. This WP strived to integrate the project results into teaching and ensures that the results are diffused. In addition, adjustments on the purchasing and sales side were carried out by Weinrich Schokolade’s utilization of the project's results.
Responsibility: Entire project team
Publications
Rülke, J., & Franz, M. (2025): Geographical Knowledge: A Catalyst for Reconfiguring Global Production Networks? Journal of Economic and Human Geography, 116(5), 637-655. https://doi.org/10.1111/tesg.70026
Rülke, J., Arnold, H., & Franz, M. (2025): ‘Unwasting’ waste: Valorisation of cocoa pod husks for black soap production. ERDKUNDE, 79(2), 131–145. https://doi.org/10.3112/erdkunde.2025.02.03
Dachs, I., Rülke, J., & Franz, M. (2025): Bringing a circular economy perspective into global production networks: Cocoa pod husk-based compost production in Ghana. Journal of Cleaner Production, 519, 145955. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2025.145955
Janssen, C. (2023): Consumers’ Problem Awareness, Attitudes towards, and Purchase Behavior of Sustainable Chocolate: Understanding the Impact of Sustainability Labels. Social Science Research Network.
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4708492
Franz, M., & Rülke, J. (2022): Die gute Geschichte von der Schokolade aus Ghana. Geographische Rundschau, (9), 38-43.
Betzler, S., Kempen, R., & Mueller, K. (2021): Sustainable Consumption, Theory of Planned Behavior, Value-Belief-Norm Theory, Self-Conscious, Problem Awareness. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 29(2), 125-138. doi.org/10.1080/13504509.2021.1930272
Contacts
Professor Martin Franz
Seminarstr. 19 a/b, 49074 Osnabrück, Germany
Room: 02/206
Jana Rülke
Seminarstr. 33, 49074 Osnabrück, Germany
Room: 04/103