The hidden, anti-LGBTQ+ reason that could punch a hole in the $120 billion chocolate industry

Pending legislation in West Africa that would punish LGBTQ+ relationships with jail time has drawn an international spotlight for its extremism, but major players in the $119 billion global chocolate market that are reliant on the flow of cocoa beans from the region have been silent on the potential bill’s human-rights abuses.

Chocolate makers have signed various codes of conduct and codes of ethics for themselves and their suppliers in recent years in response to criticism over human rights concerns in the chocolate supply chain—including child labor and unpaid labor. The codes call for companies to use their leverage to prevent discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation—but since Ghana’s parliament last month passed a stringent anti-LGBTQ+ bill, these companies have stayed silent.

Meanwhile, chocolate confectioners and cocoa bean importers like Barry Callebaut, Cargill, Hershey, Mars, Nestlé and Mondelez International are being battered by rising prices, with cocoa futures contracts surging 215% between January and March. Prices for chocolate bars and sweets made from cocoa beans rose 33.9% last month from a year ago, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The squeeze has already hit consumers; Reuters, citing market research from Circana, reported that retail prices rose 11.6% in 2023, compared to the prior year. Sales of chocolate and candy hit $48 billion in 2023, which was largely driven by inflation, according to a report last week from the National Confectioners Association. Retail spending for the Easter holiday next month is expected to reach $22.4 billion, with $3.1 billion allocated to candy like chocolate bunnies and eggs.

The candy crush comes at a time when parliament in Ghana has advanced a controversial bill that spells out a new maximum penalty of up to three years in jail for people in LGBTQ+ relationships, and five years for those found guilty of supporting them as allies. The regulations for allies are so vague that the law could be open to interpretation to mean supporting LGBTQ+ people by holding meetings, rallies or even using online symbols like a rainbow flag emoji that could be considered propaganda. The country’s parliament voted unanimously to advance the bill on Feb. 28, leaving Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo to veto or sign it. The bill is currently held up by two legal challenges, but chocolate makers with business in Ghana, where the bill’s fate will be determined, are quietly tracking it.

Currently, Ghana stands to lose $3.8 billion in funding from the World Bank over the next five to six years, according to Bloomberg, including $600 million in support this year alone, because the bill is counter to anti-discrimination policies of the International Monetary Fund. The World Bank refused to comment specifically on the pending legislation. “The Bill has not yet been signed into Law,” said a spokesperson in a statement to Fortune. “We generally do not comment on Bills. The World Bank Group has a longstanding and productive relationship with Ghana.” IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva similarly evaded questions about the bill this week, declining to comment on it directly to reporters in Ghana’s capital, Accra.

The legislation poses an even graver threat to the long-term future of Ghana: Its cocoa bean industry makes up about 2% of its GDP and is a source of employment and income for nearly a third of the population. Companies in the chocolate supply chain—the makers of popular KitKats and Cadbury—buy cocoa beans largely from Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, and Ghana’s market share stands at about 20%. A law that further criminalizes LGBTQ+ relationships jeopardizes the expansion of trade and financing in the country, imperils already criticized chocolatiers and distributors and makes the country less safe for large swaths of people.

Richard Wingfield, director of the Partnership for Global LGBTIQ+ Equality, which counts Nestlé as one of its members, said the President Akufo-Addo has indicated that he will not sign the bill until the Supreme Court has issued a judgment on its constitutionality. He said the PGLE is hopeful the bill will be found unconstitutional but if it isn’t, there will be strong pressure on the President to sign it. “Though it's not 100% certain that he will, given that there are many actors—including within Ghana—calling on him not to,” said Wingfield in a statement to Fortune.

Fabrice Houdart, founder of the Association of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors, said it would have been very difficult for global food companies to stop working with cocoa farms in Ghana entirely, but companies failed to live up to the public commitments they made to their employees and those they required from suppliers and partners.

“Chocolatiers' influence in Ghana is huge,” said Houdart, former human rights officer at the UN who coauthored and led the UN Global LGBTQ+ standards of conduct for business.

“All in all, it is a missed opportunity that illustrates both a change in the corporate engagement on human rights due to the political context in the U.S. and the inefficiency of [Human Rights Campaign], GLAAD, and PGLE in leveraging their corporate networks not just for donations to them, but also to respond to grave global crises.”

Aside from the current economic dynamics, chocolate makers have faced years of criticism over child labor and slavery in the supply chain. In 2017, Nestlé signed the UN Standards of Conduct which includes provisions related to using leverage to prevent LGBTQ+ discrimination.

“Companies should use their leverage to influence the behaviour of suppliers and partners, whose practices may, intentionally or not, discriminate against or otherwise violate the rights of LGBTI people,” the standards of conduct state. “In some cases, it may be appropriate for companies to take public advocacy positions.”

Nestlé said it had no comment.

Cargill’s supplier code of conduct calls on partners to prioritize human rights and to treat workers with dignity and respect. The company prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in its commitment on human rights, which was last updated in January.

Cargill did not respond to a request for comment.

Cargill and Hershey are sponsors of the Human Rights Campaign, which champions equality. Hershey’s code of conduct, which is a commitment to employees, consumers and business partners, encourages employees to speak up if they see discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Hershey did not respond to requests for comment.

Mondelez and Mars were both among 50 company brands that signed a statement from GLAAD rejecting harassment and bullying of LGBTQ+ communities in August. Mars said it was “proud to tout” its 100% score on the Human Rights Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index, which benchmarks corporate policies related to LGBTQ+ issues.

Mars and Mondelez did not respond to requests for comment.

Wingfield said he wasn’t aware of companies that purchase cocoa beans in Ghana lobbying against the bill but that doesn’t mean they haven’t because their advocacy may be “private.”

‘Deeply sad’

Despite the silence from companies, LGBTQ+ citizens in Ghana and around the world have protested the bill. Human Rights Watch reported that 21 activists were arrested for holding a meeting after the bill was first floated in 2021 for allegedly promoting homosexuality.

A rep for chocolate bar maker Tony’s Chocolonely U.S. said the company was monitoring the bill but did not comment about any actions it took.

“Right now, the most important thing is to make sure all of our employees and partners on the ground feel safe,” said Aidaly Sosa Walker, head of marketing at Tony’s Chocolonely U.S. “It is too early to know what happens next, but it’s deeply sad that something like this is still happening in 2024.”

GLAAD’s president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said the organization has consistently condemned the anti-LGBTQ+ bills in Ghana and the rest of the region.

“Ghana is risking its reputation and its economy by considering such dangerous legislation, scaring away the vibrant, rich communities that would want to invest in the country,” Ellis said in a statement to Fortune. “This bill includes prison time for the mere identification with the LGBTQ community, putting countless people at risk. This law cannot and should not stand.”

Other groups that have weighed in on the bill maintained blatantly anti-LGBTQ+ stances. The president of Ghana’s Catholic Bishops’ Conference said sending LGBTQ+ people to jail could increase relationships.

“You see, if you round up same-sex people and you know our prisons, they are going to end up in the same room and what is going to prevent them from going through these same activities in prison,” Bishop Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi of Sunyani said in an interview published in Catholic publication Crux.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com