Type of research

Bibliometrics provides insight into the important factors of the academic dimensions of research on a large scale by studying them at the national level or by individual academic discipline (Siao et al. 2022). The resources applied in bibliometric studies make it possible to estimate publications and citations by relating productivity to the influence and quality of scientific papers (Madeira et al. 2023), allowing the identification of research scopes and existing gaps by reducing scientific subjectivity (Salihu et al. 2022). The R open-source software, with its R Studio extensions, the Bibliometrix library and related Biblioshyne interface were used. The importance of programming languages and their tools is recognized by the scientific community (Aziz et al. 2024). The databases used for the analysis process were Scopus and Web of Science (WoS), because these are databases with an enormous collection of material and quality scientific analysis tools (Tsilika 2023).

Data analysis

Keywords and similar terms were explored in topics delimited by the research, classifying the level of importance according to the number of records. The first one was called Cocoa, a topic that covers the terminology on this crop, in which the term with the highest result was "cocoa" with 15,873 records in Scopus, and 8,936 in WoS, for a total of 38,315 and 15,875 in the respective databases. Secondly, the dimension of green practices was explored, where the term sustainability is the most used by the scientific community, with 1,410,997 and 776,214. This group is the most influential in the research, with a total result of 1,413,913 and 777,875, which integrates all the terminology associated with this group. Finally, in the integration using the selection mechanisms represented in the Boolean operators for the design of a search strategy to capture data with the topics related to the research ("Green label") OR ("green certification") OR ("Sustaina*") OR ("green practi*") AND ("Theobroma cacao") OR ("Cocoa") OR ("Cacao"). On July 10, 2025, 1,591 and 1,060 documents were identified documents related to cocoa integrating green practices. This exploration was performed on the main structure of the documents (title, abstract, and keywords). Table 1 presents the results of the two databases.

Table 1: Keyword research.

The PRISMA method was used as input for the research approach to provide a clear and concise systematic approach to data mining (Agyei et al. 2024). The following classification parameters were used to classify information search focused only on articles in areas related to research, such as agriculture and business, in Scopus. The following subject areas were selected: Agricultural and Biological Sciences, Environmental, Social Sciences, Economics, Econometrics, and Finance. Also, in WoS, the selected research areas were Environmental Sciences, Ecology, Agriculture, and Science Technology. Other topics were Food Science Technology, Forestry, Business Economics, and Biodiversity Conservation, to identify global scientific trends. The search was limited to the production of the last six years only (2019-2025). For greater quality in the processing of the information, only articles belonging to quartiles one and two (Q1 and Q2) were selected for a final result in the two databases of 48 and 42 (Figure 1). Finally, to end duplicates, processes were conducted to verify the information, in the R open-source software, R Studio version 4.3.2, in BibTex format, in the two databases. The result was 34 duplicate documents eliminated for a net resulting of the unification of 56. This research did not include articles classified in quartiles 3 and 4 (Q3-Q4), and databases other than Scopus and WoS were not used, which may introduce limitations in the results.

Figure 1: Prism method.

Figure 2 illustrates the geographical dissemination of research papers. The methodology used to determine geographical representation was the location of the research institutions to which the authors belong. On the other hand, the intensification of the color blue shows the scientific strength of the country according to the number of records, for graphic analysis, the five main countries will be studied, which in their respective order are: Spain and United Kingdom (17), Ghana and (16) Italy, finally,

Figure 2: Countrie' scientific production.

Ecuador with (15) records. This research has been carried out in partnership with different countries. The strongest collaborations, according to the number of frequencies represented in Figure 3 by the weight of the line, there is a triangulation of collaboration between Finland with China, and the United States, as well as a reported network between China and the USA. Finally, there is a strong collaboration between China and Ghana (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Countries' collaboration.

Figure 4 analyzes citations by country; the top 5, according to total citations, is led by China (177), the United Kingdom (154), Switzerland (129), and Italy (144). It is worth noting the representation of Colombia in this ranking: (46).

Figure 4: Most cited countries.

Figure 5 presents the ranking according to Multiple Country Publications (MCP) and Single Country Publications (SCP). According to the combination of these variables, the UK leads, followed by Italy and China. In the case of Colombia, research has been carried out only in this country. Figure 6 shows the historical production by country over the last 5 years, which was initiated by Ghana, the UK, and Italy. Among the new scientific actors, Colombia appears with recent publications in the year 2023 (5) and 2024-2025(10), respectively (Figure 6).

Figure 5: Corresponding author's countries.

Figure 6: Countries' production over time.

Preferred journals

Figure 7 shows the top 5 sources according to the number of published articles. Important classifications are highlighted according to the number of records: Journal of Cleaner Production (13); Innovative Food Science (4); Sustainable Production and Consumption (3). Finally, there are the Applied Geography, Food and Bioprocess Technology, the Journal of International Food and Agribusiness Marketing, and the Supply Chain Management: An International Journal with two registrations, respectively.

Figure 7: Most relevant sources.

Table 2 shows the main policies of Journals. It should be noted that all of them are of open access, according to the Citi Score bibliometric metrics of the Scopus database, Sustainable Production and Consumption leads (22.5). However, according to the bibliometric metric, the Impact factor of the WoS database Journal Cleaner Production (10) is the highest among the journals.

Table 2: Main bibliometric metrics and journal policies.

Research trends

Figure 8 presents the historical distribution of publications, starting in 2019 with 5 papers, reaching historical highs in 2022 with 11 papers, in 2023 there was a 9% decrease in the number of queries. In 2024, there were the same number of papers as in 2022. In the first half of 2025, the figure is 5 research.

Figure 8: Historical evolution of publications.

The analysis of references by spectroscopy shows the evolution of citations over time, showing their importance in scientific research (Nica et al. 2024). According to Figure 9, the first reference found was the research of Nevinson (1906), with one citation. The historical maximum occurred in the 2020s, with 322, taking Adesanya et al. (2020) and LeBaron et al. (2020) as a ranking. According to Google, academic citations for these papers were 120 and 101, respectively (Figure 9).

Figure 9: Historical evolution of citation.

In this regard, keyword analysis represents the study of the most important words of the authors, revealing important fields in the scientific community (Pesta et al. 2018). In this order of ideas, Figure 10 shows the thematic map of research, this figure allows to identify the important topics of study according to the keywords of the authors, presenting the weight of the internal importance reflected in the growth of the dimensions and the external importance that is the relationship of the research in a specific field grouped in four segments (Bagdi et al. 2023). Driving topics are relevant topics and have a significant impact on other topics; they are considered topics with restricted progress, niche topics may lack weight and importance, and core topics are fundamental topics but need further research (Serter and Gumusburun 2024).

Figure 10: Thematic map.

The following parameters were used to configure the analysis: Number of words: 70, Minimum frequency of clusters (per thousand documents): 5, Number of labels: 3, Label size: 0.3, Community repulsion, and Clustering algorithm Walktrap. The research agenda can be approached from four quadrants: 1) Basic: issues with work that relates to circular economy, cocoa byproducts and agritourism; 2) Emerging themes: bioactive compounds, polyphenols pretreatment, biochar, cocoa beans, cocoa pod husk; 3) Niche topics are studies related to adoption, agroforestry, agroforestry systems and competitive advantages and 4) Motor topics: sustainability, cocoa, agriculture, life cycle assessment, food and sustainable development.

The factorial reduction technique is applied to reduce dimensions and group similarities in scientific topics (Talero-Sarmiento et al. 2025). In this context, by using the multiple correspondence analysis technique (MCA), which represents the data as a point in a low-dimensional Euclidean space (Abafe et al. 2022). The K-means method was applied to study the association of the co-citation matrix with K=3; the variance of the information in the two dimensions was 86.05%. The first research trend in the green group is related to life cycle assessment in food. The second blue trend focuses on the sustainable development of supply chains. Finally, the third red trend is related to cocoa, certifications, sustainability, and supply chain management (Figure 11).

Figure 11: Factorial analysis map.

The keyword clouds figure are a visual scheme of the most relevant words in the research, represented by the size of the word (Turki and Roy 2022). In this line, and according to Figure 12, taking as a reference the five most relevant according to the records in their respective order, the following were found:

Figure 12: Keywords cloud.

Sustainability (18), Cocoa (11), sustainable development (10), life cycle assessment (7), agriculture, environmental impact, food and management (6), respectively. Figure 13 shows the rectangle diagram, where the size of the geometrical figure represents the importance of the Word (Purna Prakash et al. 2024) and their percentage of use frequency. The following stand out in the same classification, with 40% of the total number of records: Sustainability (10), Cocoa, sustainable development, life cycle assessment, agriculture, environmental impact and food and management (6), respectively (Figure 13).

Figure 13: Keywords tree map.

The co-occurrence analysis studies the relationship between keywords. The size of the node and closeness between words allow it to determine the degree of association between them (Det Udomsap and Hallinger 2020). The Walktrap algorithm is recognized for its efficiency in the clustering of key terms and the design of the visualization of the mapping of fields (Pons and Latapy 2005). According to Figure 14, three important word clusters were identified. The first red cluster focused more on sustainability and was related to agro-tourism, agro-forestry, forestry, and certifications, especially fair trade, the cocoa industry, and emerging technologies such as the blockchain. The second, the green color, is more focused on sustainable development related to climate change, global warming, supply chain, life cycle assessment, and environmental impacts. Finally, the purple cluster focuses more on the circular economy and cocoa byproducts. In order to identify the research trends, a density map was used, where the intensity of red color represents the most important scientific currents. According to the above, in the cluster focused on sustainability, most of the research is done in environmental policies, deforestation, and management, and the cluster led by sustainable development, environmental impacts, climate change, and life cycle assessment (Figure 15) (Sun et al. 2023).

Figure 14: Keywords co-occurrence.

Figure 15: Keywords: density map.

Figure 16 shows an integrative conceptual framework, using the metaphorical figure of a cocoa tree for the relevance of the research. The roots are the 10 identified sustainable practices: Agroforestry, Agrotourism, Circular Economy, Fair Trade, Biomarkers, LCA, Fluidized Bed Roasting, Extrusion, Green Suppliers and Buyers, and Chocolate Scorecard, which connect to the supply chain. The above provides support represented in the trunk to the sustainable supply chain. These previously presented relationships will bear fruit, illustrated as three cocoa pods in the balance of the three pillars of sustainability (environmental, social, and economic).

Figure 16: Framework on sustainable cocoa industry practices.

The following are the most relevant results of this research, reflecting on the conceptual and methodological assumptions that underpin the review. From the definition of sustainability by the Brundtland Commission, as the coverage of current needs without sacrificing the coverage of future needs (Brundtland and Khalid 1987), along with the triple bottom line sustainability model developed by John Elkington defined as the balance between profit, social welfare, and environmental impact (Elkington and Rowlands 1999). As it analyzes the concept of sustainable cocoa, it can be defined as the production chain that generates economic and social benefits while reducing the impact on ecosystems related to the cocoa industry. The definition above is consistent with that (ICCO 2025b). However, according to the same organization, there are problems in the sustainability of the cocoa industry, such as farmers with low economic returns, in addition to the precision exercised by the different stakeholders concerning environmental and social care. Concerning the first topic, the review also revealed the leading research countries as European, which demand high standards for exports related to sustainability and environmental matters. Additionally, Europe plays an important role in the world cocoa trade (Siddiqui et al. 2024). An interesting fact is that as it analyzed the origin of the main journals, these are also European, which ratifies the greater scientific influence of this region, leading the scientific agenda around the sustainability of the cocoa industry. Also, the main papers are open access, which allows a democratization of knowledge, reaching important studies to groups and interests of little economic development, such as small and medium enterprises (SME), as well as small farmers in the cocoa industry. With respect to research trends, the central topics are certifications, environmental impacts, and dynamic agricultural systems, among which agroforestry systems were identified. This finding is consistent with Olarte and Muñoz (2025).

This research identifies the main sustainable practices in the cocoa industry. The green labels generate benefits for the cocoa supply chain. Farmers can sell their products in European markets, which have the purchase of only sustainably certified cocoa as a restriction since 2020, which motivates exporting companies to certify farmers, generating greater sustainability in their processes. Input purchasing companies guarantee the green traceability of the product, and finally, consumers can enjoy chocolate without remorse of negative impacts on tropical ecosystems (Perez et al. 2022). An important finding was that fair-trade certification generates direct income to farmers by eliminating intermediaries between raw materials and globalized markets, generating higher profits, gender equity, and climate resilience (FairTrade 2025).

Agroforestry emerges as a sustainable system that allows generating benefits to cocoa cultivation, such as planting shade trees to improve production performance and pest control, also minimizing environmental impacts by eliminating the use of chemical insecticides. Also, biomass produced by trees increases the stock of carbon and nutrients in the soil, which improves production yields, which can be transformed into income in carbon payment systems (Krause et al. 2025). However, these agroforestry systems compete with the resources of cocoa monocrops, with the analysis of the compensation system between the consumption of water, space, and light of the trees versus the performance in cocoa production being important (Abdulai et al. 2025; Ariza-Salamanca et al. 2024).

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) allows for the analysis of the environmental impacts of a production system along the supply chain (Dominguez et al. 2023). In a global context, the cocoa industry presents high consumption of resources, such as water, electricity, and energy in the production, manufacturing, and transportation stages, generating toxic effects on sources of seawater and human consumption, as a result of wastewater and material waste. In the stage of international transportation from factories to distribution points, fuel consumption produces polluting metals such as mercury and chromium, generating negative impacts on ecosystems (Wang and Dong 2025). Nevertheless, the environmental impact can be mitigated with the following system improvement options: In production, with the use of organic fertilizers and the reduction of pesticides in processing, by switching from diesel to natural gas systems (Ntiamoah and Afrane 2008). Finally, the circular economy has been used in the waste generated by cocoa, such as the cocoa pod, which can be transformed into a reassessment of this waste, such as compost to produce organic fertilizers and pectin for potential use in the biomedical industry (Dachs et al. 2025).

Table 3 presents six authors who investigated the reassessment of cocoa byproducts: Cocoa bean shells (CBS) and pod husks (CPH), from which biochar, polyphenols, advanced materials, improved fertilizers, compost, and hydrocarbons can be obtained.

Table 3: Circular economy research.

Table 4 presents three authors who did research on LCA, which is more focused on studying energy consumption on farms.

Table 4: LCA Research.

Table 5 presents two authors' research on the Sustainable supply chain, which relies on the blockchain to map the supply chain, guaranteeing its sustainability and transparency.

Table 5: Research Sustainable supply chain.

Table 6 features the works related to green labels, which focus on Fair-Trade certification, which combines the social and environmental approach on farms.

Table 6: Green Labels.

Seven research projects were carried out studying non-conventional sustainable practices such as Biomarkers, Fluidized bed roasting, Extrusion, Green suppliers and buyers, Chocolate Scorecard, and Agrotourism (Table 7).

Table 7: Agroforestry.

Table 8 presents studies that explored additional types of sustainable practices.

Table 8: Research that addressed other types of sustainable practices.

The practical implications of this work are the identification of a set of sustainable practices in the cocoa industry, along with the design of an integrative framework that allows the different links in the supply chain to generate strategies for the implementation of practices to achieve sustainability. For example, the government can generate public policies and programs to encourage the implementation of the practices in industry. Additionally, the farmers' cooperatives will have a portfolio of sustainable practices, which will allow them to improve their sustainability strategies and generate green income.

For this research, the authors conducted a rigorous search of scientific literature. However, the following limitations are presented: only English language documents from Scopus and WoS databases classified in Q1 and Q2 in the period 2019- 2024 were analyzed. This may lead to the exclusion of relevant documents published in other databases, outside the analyzed period, and journals of minor categories in languages other than English.