Mar 15 2012 --- Barry Callebaut, the world's leading manufacturer of high-quality cocoa and chocolate, has launched a CHF 40 million cocoa sustainability initiative to boost farm productivity, increase quality and improve family livelihoods in key cocoa producing countries in West and Central Africa and Indonesia over 10 years.

In fiscal year 2011/2012 the company will invest CHF 5 million in farmer training, infrastructure and community education and health programs. The activities will be undertaken in cooperation with agricultural and development experts and government institutions. Barry Callebaut will focus first on large producer countries including Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Indonesia, Cameroon and Brazil, and aims to expand the initiative, called Cocoa Horizons, to other cocoa producing countries with high development potential over the coming years.

"The scarcity of quality cocoa is a serious concern that touches the heart of our business - because without more cocoa, we can't produce more chocolate. Innovative and comprehensive solutions are urgently needed to reverse the overall decline in global cocoa production. We've therefore made sustainable cocoa a pillar of our company's ambitious growth strategy, and accelerated our longtime efforts to ensure sustainable cocoa production. Our newest initiative, "Cocoa Horizons", is the most ambitious and far reaching sustainability program in Barry Callebaut's history," said CEO Juergen B. Steinemann.

The initiative builds on Barry Callebaut's proven Quality Partner Program (QPP) for cocoa farmer cooperatives. Launched in 2005, and currently engaging more than 40,000 farmers in Côte d'Ivoire and Cameroon, QPP was the first program of its kind to emphasize quality improvement goals for cocoa as well as farming practices.  Barry Callebaut's Cocoa Horizons initiative comprises 3 pillars:

Farmer Practices - Enabling farmers to boost farm productivity and cocoa quality through Barry Callebaut's training programs in yield enhancement techniques and sustainable cocoa production, and to be eligible for independent certification according to multiple cocoa sustainability standards.

Farmer Education - Improving access to education in cocoa farming communities and promoting a cocoa curriculum and other actions to develop the next generation of young cocoa farmers.

Farmer Health - Improving access to basic health care and clean water in cocoa farming communities to contribute to the wellbeing of farming families.

While 2010/11 delivered a bumper cocoa crop due to favorable weather conditions, during the last 6 years the annual cocoa supply has frequently fallen short of demand. Barry Callebaut estimates that by 2020 the global cocoa and chocolate industry will need an additional 1 million metric tons of cocoa to meet the rising demand for chocolate, driven by markets in Asia, Eastern Europe and the Americas.

"Cocoa Horizons is our long-term initiative to improve farmer productivity and livelihoods in a sustainable way," said Steven Retzlaff, President Global Sourcing & Cocoa. "We define cocoa production as 'sustainable' when farmers earn equitable income, engage in responsible labor practices, safeguard the environment through sound agricultural practices and can provide for the basic health and education needs and general well-being of their families."

Barry Callebaut will open a Center of Cocoa Excellence and 5 Farmer Academies in important cocoa growing regions in Cote d'Ivoire. The new Cocoa Horizons initiative defines a portfolio of yield enhancement techniques aimed at increasing the yields per hectare and quality of cocoa grown by smallholder farmers. Various training approaches and methodologies, such as Farmer Field Schools, are used to promote sound agricultural and labor practices, proper fermentation and drying, and disease and pest management. Model farms will be established in cooperation with local communities. These will be used for research and a range of training activities including specialized advanced training in grafting and farm regeneration. Barry Callebaut expects to reach an additional 50,000 smallholder farmers through its various training activities over the next 10 years.