Dutch chocolate companies Hands Off and Chocolatemakers are merging to form The Chocolate Impact Group
Amsterdam, 31 March 2026 – Hands Off and Chocolatemakers have announced that they will continue together under the name The Chocolate Impact Group. The company brings together three brands: Hands Off, CLARO and Chocolatemakers. The partnership will enable more sustainable chocolate to be widely available in a scalable way. The company will opt for an integrated approach focused on a living income, biodiversity restoration, CO₂ reduction and quality.
Making good chocolate scalable
The cocoa market is becoming increasingly uncertain due to record prices resulting from poor harvests, climate problems and soil depletion, with cocoa farmers bearing the brunt of the impact. The partnership links Chocolatemakers’ approach – focused on a living wage for farmers and regenerative cultivation – with Hands Off’s additional volume and brand recognition. This will ensure that more sustainable chocolate will become widely available in a scalable way.
Doing better where possible
Through the merger, an integrated approach will be implemented for the different brands. Unlike other chocolate brands, the company will focus not only on social inequality, but also on a living wage, biodiversity restoration, CO₂ reduction and quality. CLARO and Chocolatemakers chocolate is produced in a solar-powered chocolate factory in Amsterdam’s Westpoort industrial park. The aim is to gradually transfer Hands Off’s chocolate production to the factory as well.
Rodney Nikkels, founder of Chocolatemakers and an agronomist specialising in tropical agriculture, has this to say about the partnership: “I founded Chocolatemakers in 2011 to demonstrably improve anything that can be done better. Partnering with Hands Off will allow us to increase our volume. We will show that good chocolate is possible not just for the consumer but also for the cocoa farmer, the planet and the product.
Kitty Smeeten, founder of Hands Off, adds: “At Hands Off, we have been making the most delicious plant-based chocolate products with a strong focus on sustainability from the very beginning. Merging with Chocolatemakers will enable us to take a huge step towards becoming even more sustainable. The way in which Chocolatemakers does better for people, planet and the quality of the chocolate is truly unique. As far as I’m concerned, it is the most sustainable chocolate company I know. So I’m very happy and I can’t wait to scale up further and make even more impact.
Increasing market share
The Chocolate Impact Group brings together three brands – Hands Off, CLARO and Chocolatemakers – and aims to increase the combined market share of more sustainable chocolate in the Netherlands, with a revenue target of €20 million in 2030. This growth will translate directly to the cocoa supply chain: for every chocolate bar, the company will restore an additional square metre of cocoa farmland, with the aim of increasing farmers’ incomes, enhancing CO₂ absorption, boosting biodiversity, and improving product quality. In 2026, the company will begin restoring 3.4 million square metres of cocoa farmland.
