Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate Celebrates Arrival of First Certified Sustainable Cocoa Beans

As part of the celebrations around the production of the first certified beans they were officially presented at the opening day of CHOCA, the Amsterdam Chocolate Festival, on 7 November.

10 Nov 2009 --- The first cocoa beans produced from UTZ CERTIFIED farmer co-operatives have now been delivered for processing by Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate. As the crop harvest continues into 2010 the use of beans from these certified sources will be extended to the complete product portfolio.

Cargill is a founding partner of the UTZ CERTIFIED cocoa programme. The programme's aim is to ensure good agricultural, environmental and social practices in cocoa production. This enables small-scale farmers to improve their farming practices, thereby producing a higher quality crop with increased productivity. Farmers benefit from a higher income based on the principle "a better price for a better product". Participants throughout the supply chain demonstrate their commitment to responsible sourcing of sustainably produced cocoa.

Daan de Vries, UTZ CERTIFIED Programme Manager Cocoa said: "As a founding partner of the UTZ CERTIFIED cocoa programme, Cargill has been involved in our work from the beginning, playing a key role in connecting with other companies and creating the immense momentum of the programme.

Cargill's pioneering collaboration with Ivorian national rural development agency ANADER, its extensive infrastructure, and its insistence on sourcing only quality beans from the Côte d'Ivoire, have been vital to making UTZ CERTIFIED cocoa from Côte d'Ivoire a reality. "

As part of the celebrations around the production of the first certified beans they were officially presented at the opening day of CHOCA, the Amsterdam Chocolate Festival, on 7 November. The ceremony was performed by Bert Koenders, Minister of Development and Co-operation in the Netherlands, alongside representatives of the certified farmer groups.

CHOCA is a family event celebrating the world of chocolate. It takes place from 7-22 November and this year has a focus on sustainability.

The beans arriving at CHOCA have been produced by the first two certified co-operatives in Côte d'Ivoire. Cargill's intensive eight month programme trained 1,590 farmers at the co-operatives in responsible and sustainable agricultural practices. The certifications were completed following independent audits and are awarded on an annual basis.

Harold Poelma, Managing Director of Cocoa for Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate said: "We are extremely pleased that the first sustainable certified beans from the Agricole de Fiédifoué and Coopaga co-operatives are about to be processed by Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate. We currently have 12 other co-operatives moving towards certification, in which we are running 150 farmer training programmes, rising to 300 next year. As these co-operatives become certified they will contribute to the anticipated target of 10,000 tonnes of certified beans in 2010."

Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate has run training programmes for farmers for nearly a decade, as the best way to bring sustainability to the supply chain. Through education in good agricultural practices farmers improve quality and yield, leading to increased incomes.

"Our analysis on these first certified beans shows that the quality is very good. It is too early to be specific about increased yield, but on past experience we can expect a productivity increase of at least 30% as a result of the training that farmers have undertaken", adds Harold Poelma.