Beyond Beans
Beyond Beans Foundation is the sustainability arm of ETG, implementing farmer livelihood, community development, nature protection, and innovation programs across cocoa, coffee, and cashew supply chains in seven countries, with a 500+ field staff team focused on smallholder farmers and partnerships with Nestlé.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2019
- HeadquartersAmstelveen, Netherlands
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Beyond Beans does
Beyond Beans Foundation is a Netherlands-domiciled non-profit foundation that operates as the dedicated sustainability arm of ETG (Export Trading Group), one of the world's largest agricultural commodity traders. It develops and implements programs across ETG's cocoa, coffee, and cashew supply chains in collaboration with partner companies, NGOs, and government agencies, with core activities organized around four pillars: farmer livelihoods, community development, protecting nature, and innovation. The foundation's primary beneficiaries are smallholder farmers and their communities, with stated reach of approximately 50,000 farmers across 52 cooperatives in Côte d'Ivoire at the end of 2024 and an ambition to scale to 160,000 cocoa-farming families in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana by 2030.
The foundation's operating model is field-intensive: more than 500 multidisciplinary specialists and field staff conduct farm visits, deploy conditional cash transfers (most prominently through the Nestlé co-developed Income Accelerator Programme, which pays €500 per qualifying household annually), and deliver training, subsidies, and community development programs. Technology infrastructure is built primarily on the Mergdata smartphone application developed by Ghanaian IT company Farmerline, supporting offline data collection, GPS polygon farm mapping of individual farms, a digital farmer registry, and an integrated Child Labour Monitoring Tool. The organization also leverages the ETG One Stop Solution smartphone app to deliver weather updates, tractor sharing, and drone crop monitoring services to farmers.
Beyond Beans is wholly owned by ETG and funded through ETG and collaborating corporate partners (notably Nestlé), supplemented by co-development funding from institutional partners including KIT Institute, IDH, Rainforest Alliance, and the International Cocoa Initiative. The foundation generates no commercial revenue: it does not sell products or services, and all projects are funded through partnership grants and corporate contributions. It operates from a headquarters in Amstelveen, Netherlands, with country offices in Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ecuador, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo.
Beyond Beans firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Beyond Beans
- Legal name
- Beyond Beans Foundation
- Website
- https://beyondbeans.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2019
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Beyond Beans Foundation is the sustainability arm of ETG, implementing farmer livelihood, community development, nature protection, and innovation programs across cocoa, coffee, and cashew supply chains in seven countries, with a 500+ field staff team focused on smallholder farmers and partnerships with Nestlé.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Beyond Beans industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Agricultural Supply Chain Sustainability
- NAICS
- Support Activities for Crop Production (11511), Soil Preparation, Planting, and Cultivating (115112), Fruit and Tree Nut Combination Farming (111336)
- SIC
- Agricultural Production-Crops (100), Agricultural Services (700), Forestry (800)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems (Fair Trade, Food Access, Regenerative) (BPAGALAD)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Agriculture & Food Security Development (BPAGABAB), Agriculture, Food Security & Nutrition Technical Assistance (BPADAEAG), Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems (BPAGAGAI), Sustainable Agriculture, Food Systems & Land Management (BPADALAG), Tree Planting & Establishment Services (Manual/Mechanized) (AFAMACAE), Monitoring, Survival Surveys & Carbon/MRV Services (Remote Sensing, Field Audits) (AFAMACAO), Agroforestry & Perennial Cropping Systems (EUABABAD)
Keywords
Where Beyond Beans is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Amstelveen
- HQ country
- Netherlands
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices7 records
Markets served
Beyond Beans business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Foundation funding from ETG and partner companies: As the sustainability foundation of ETG (one of the world's leading traders and processors of agricultural commodities), Beyond Beans develops and implements sustainability projects funded by ETG and collaborating partner companies, NGOs, and government agencies.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels8 records
Beyond Beans product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Beyond Beans Foundation is the sustainability arm of ETG that designs and implements programs improving livelihoods for smallholder cocoa, coffee, and cashew farmers across seven countries. Its core offerings are non-commercial sustainability and community development programs — including the Income Accelerator Programme (conditional cash transfers), the Child Labour Monitoring Tool, and farmer-facing smartphone apps for weather, tractor-sharing and drone monitoring services — delivered via a multidisciplinary field staff of 500+ specialists and partners such as farmer cooperatives, NGOs, and government agencies.
Product overview
Beyond Beans Foundation functions as the sustainability arm of ETG, implementing programmes across cocoa, coffee and cashew supply chains in partnership with NGOs, companies, and government agencies. The organisation delivers services through four core pillars — Farmer Livelihoods, Community Development, Protecting Nature, and Innovation — with key offerings including the Income Accelerator Programme (conditional cash transfer programme for cocoa farmers), Child Labour Monitoring Tool (digital tracking integrated into farmer registry), and ETG One Stop Solution (smartphone app for farmer communication). The organisation operates with a multidisciplinary team of more than 500 specialists and field staff across multiple origin countries.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Income Accelerator Programme Conditional cash transfer programme providing €500 annual cash incentives (distributed via mobile payments) to cocoa farming households in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana who adopt regenerative agriculture practices, send children to school, and diversify income. The programme targets 160,000 cocoa-farming families by 2030 and aims to address child labour, poverty, and gender inequality in cocoa supply chains.
- ETG One Stop Solution mobile application Smartphone application delivering live weather and growing-condition updates, tractor-sharing services, and drone crop monitoring to smallholder farmers in ETG/Beyond Beans commodity supply chains. Designed for rural use with low power requirements.
Quantifiable outcome
- 50,000 farmers reached across 52 cooperatives in Côte d'Ivoire by end of 2024
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Beyond Beans
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Beyond Beans technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature5 records
Beyond Beans partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- NestlécoreBeyond Beans is working with Nestlé on the Income Accelerator Programme (IAP) to address child labour, decrease poverty, promote income diversification, and push for gender equality in cocoa supply chains. The programme provides cash incentives through mobile payments to foster adoption of regenerative agriculture practices. Beyond Beans also collaborates with Nestlé in Côte d'Ivoire to help close the living income gap and improve livelihoods of cocoa-farming communities.
- KIT InstitutecorePartnership on the Income Accelerator Programme (IAP) to address child labour, decrease poverty, promote income diversification, and gender equality in cocoa supply chains.
- IDH (Initiative for Sustainable Trade)corePartner in the Income Accelerator Programme working to address child labour, decrease poverty, promote income diversification, and gender equality in cocoa supply chains.
- Rainforest AlliancecorePartner in the Income Accelerator Programme to address child labour, decrease poverty, promote income diversification, and gender equality in cocoa supply chains.
- International Cocoa Initiative (ICI)corePartner in the Income Accelerator Programme working to address child labour, decrease poverty, promote income diversification, and gender equality in cocoa supply chains.
- FarmerlinecoreGhanaian IT company that developed the Mergdata smartphone application used by Beyond Beans field supervisors for digital project field data collection, deforestation risk assessment, and EUDR compliance monitoring. Mergdata enables offline data collection with later cloud upload.
- ETG (Export Trading Group)coreBeyond Beans is the sustainability foundation of ETG, one of the world's leading traders and processors of agricultural commodities. ETG's supply chain reach enables Beyond Beans to implement sustainability programs across cocoa, coffee, and cashew supply chains. ETG provides the distribution advantage and market access that underpins Beyond Beans' operations.
- ETG Climate SolutionscoreCollaboration on initiatives to achieve zero deforestation and carbon reduction through projects in biochar, cookstoves, reforestation, and agroforestry.
- ETG CoffeecoreCollaboration with other ETG sustainability teams on pioneering initiatives to achieve zero deforestation and carbon reduction.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Beyond Beans competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Rainforest Alliance: Global NGO certifying sustainable agriculture, forestry, and supply chains — including the UTZ/Rainforest Alliance cocoa standard. Comparable as a partner in the IAP and a peer on cocoa certification, traceability, and smallholder livelihoods.
- Solidaridad: International civil-society network running sustainable-supply-chain programmes across cocoa, coffee, palm oil, and textiles with strong West Africa presence. Highly comparable as a mission-aligned NGO delivering farmer-livelihood and supply-chain sustainability programmes in the same commodities and geographies.
- Fairtrade International: Standards/certifier for cocoa and other commodities, focused on farmer livelihoods, fair pricing, and community development. Comparable mission and target beneficiaries (smallholder cocoa cooperatives) in West Africa.
- International Cocoa Initiative (ICI): Specialised organisation focused on child labour and human rights in cocoa supply chains, headquartered in Geneva with West Africa operations. Direct peer on cocoa sustainability and a current IAP partner of Beyond Beans.
- IDH – The Sustainable Trade Initiative: Dutch-based foundation convening companies, governments, and NGOs to transform commodity supply chains (cocoa, coffee, palm, tea). Direct peer — and current Beyond Beans partner — operating the same convening/funding model for supply-chain sustainability in West Africa.
- Mars Cocoa for Generations: Mars' cocoa sustainability strategy targeting farmer income, child labour, and deforestation in West Africa. Comparable as a corporate-funded cocoa sustainability programme operating with similar objectives and geographies.
- Cargill Cocoa Promise: Cargill's cocoa sustainability programme with focus on farmer livelihoods, community development, and traceability in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana. Direct peer with comparable farmer-support and supply-chain sustainability scope.
- Nestlé Cocoa Plan: Nestlé's in-house cocoa sustainability programme and Beyond Beans' most consequential IAP partner. Direct peer delivering income-accelerator, child-labour monitoring, and traceability programmes in the same Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana supply chains.
- Mondelez Cocoa Life: Mondelez's cocoa sustainability programme funding farmer training, community development, and income diversification in West Africa. Highly comparable in funding model, scope (cocoa only), and target geographies.
Others
- Farmerline: Ghanaian agricultural technology company that developed the Mergdata smartphone platform used by Beyond Beans for offline data collection and farm mapping. Ecosystem/enabler peer — comparable only on the data-collection technology dimension, not on programmatic scope.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Beyond Beans social profiles
Digital presenceBeyond Beans financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Beyond Beans leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Beyond Beans funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Beyond Beans M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Beyond Beans
What does Beyond Beans do?
Beyond Beans Foundation is the sustainability arm of ETG that designs and implements programs improving livelihoods for smallholder cocoa, coffee, and cashew farmers across seven countries. Its core offerings are non-commercial sustainability and community development programs — including the Income Accelerator Programme (conditional cash transfers), the Child Labour Monitoring Tool, and farmer-facing smartphone apps for weather, tractor-sharing and drone monitoring services — delivered via a multidisciplinary field staff of 500+ specialists and partners such as farmer cooperatives, NGOs, and government agencies.
Is Beyond Beans a public or private company?
Beyond Beans is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Beyond Beans founded?
Beyond Beans was founded in 2019. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Beyond Beans based?
Beyond Beans is headquartered in Amstelveen, Netherlands, in the Europe region.
How does Beyond Beans make money?
One revenue line is on record: foundation funding from ETG and partner companies.
Who are Beyond Beans's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Rainforest Alliance, Solidaridad, Fairtrade International, International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), IDH – The Sustainable Trade Initiative, Mars Cocoa for Generations, Cargill Cocoa Promise, Nestlé Cocoa Plan and Mondelez Cocoa Life. Farmerline is listed as an others.
Does Beyond Beans have an API?
No public API is recorded for Beyond Beans.
What industry is Beyond Beans in?
Beyond Beans's product category is Agricultural Supply Chain Sustainability. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGALAD, Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems (Fair Trade, Food Access, Regenerative), with a secondary code of BPAGABAB, Agriculture & Food Security Development. Its NAICS code is 11511 and its SIC code is 100.