Ecuadorian Cocoa Farming II

Working capital for family-owned company of small cocoa producers.

Resumen de la inversión

Categoría de impacto

Sistemas agroalimentarios

Tipo de inversión

Préstamo

Interés anual

4.65

Plazo

meses

Nivel de riesgo

B+

The goal of this campaign is to provide working capital to a family-owned company based in the coastal area of the Guayas Province (Ecuador), active in the aggregation, processing, and sale of cocoa products to Europe, North America, and Asia. The Company sources its produce from 2.500 cocoa farmers in the 4 provinces of Los Ríos (the area with the highest production of the world-renown ‘Cacao Nacional’, also named as “Cacao Arriba”), Sucumbios and Orellana (where cocoa produce is differentiated by the area of influence of the Yasuni Biosphere Reserve), and El Oro.

When European traders found Cacao Nacional in the Gulf of Guayaquil, with floral aroma profiles, they asked the merchants where these amazing beans came from. The locals answered “Arriba” – “up-river”, meaning further up the watersheds of the rivers that reach the gulf. The name stuck, and to this day, this cacao is known in Ecuador as “Cacao Arriba”.

The Company is focused on shortening the long supply chains that hinder farmers' market access and on improving their productivity and quality controls through two “capacity-building” programs, which benefit 5.000 families. Its mission is to export the best fine Ecuadorian cocoa beans and their derivatives to the world, promoting fair trade with small producers and traders, while integrating the whole value chain and guaranteeing high-quality standards and responsibility for its human resources and care for the environment.

Overall, Ecuador is the 2nd producer of cocoa in Latin American after Brazil, and for many years, it has been recognized as the largest fine or flavoured cacao producer in the world.

There are two general categories of cocoa beans in the world: “fine or flavour” and “bulk or ordinary”. Fine cocoa production represents less than 5% per year of the world’s cocoa bean production and Ecuador is the largest producer of “fine or flavour” beans, producing over half of the world’s production – the raw material that is required in the European and American industries for fine chocolate production. Evidence from Ecuador suggests that the cocoa premium over the New York Stock Exchange price of fine or flavour cocoa beans is 20% to 30%.

Cocoa production in Ecuador has experienced an overall upward trend in recent years, reaching an estimated 328,000 tons in the crop year 2019/2020, for a value of c. USD700m worth of exports. Production in Ecuador is forecast to continue growing, reaching 340,000 tons in the 2020/21 season.

In Ecuador, approximately 360,000 hectares of cocoa are cultivated by approximately 90,000 farmers. Most of these farmers are relatively poor and operate on less than 10 hectares of land (according to representatives from non-governmental organizations in Ecuador). Their incomes are largely dependent on agricultural production with almost half generated by the sale of cocoa beans. 85% of cocoa production occurs in the coastal plain region of Ecuador.

The funds raised through this campaign will be used as Transactional Working Capital to provide liquidity to the Company from its procurement and processing stage, all the way through its exports. This is the second campaign promoted by Working Capital Associates to provide funding to this company and the sixth to provide funding to small producers from Peru and Ecuador.

¿Cuál es el impacto?

Direct:

Better working and financial conditions for small producers, who own less than 10 hectares of land. The Company has established a sustainability program that offers farming communities the following services: technical assistance and training to improve productivity; advice and support to improve the quality of post-harvest; training to develop management, financial, and trading capacities in communities; fair trade practices to improve life quality in the communities.
Gender quality promotion: the company is fully owned by its female CEO, who runs a senior and experienced team.

Indirect:

Promotion of an inclusive value chain by joining 5.000 local producers who have access to an international export value chain.
Contribution to the Company’s social mission, by ensuring cash and premium payments at the “farm gate” to the farmers and early payments at a premium to the Company. The company can then reinvest the money in training, education, social support to the farmers and their families, health support, and help with organic and fair-trade certifications.
Rural poverty reduction: smallholders will receive a higher profit margin for their produce, which can be allocated to more than pure subsistence. They will also have access to larger national and international markets.
Contribution to environmental protection: the Ecuatorian focuses on pruning cacao trees and aims to help farmers make the most of what they already have, so they wouldn’t need to press further into the Amazon. Among other sustainable techniques are shade-growing and multi-cropping, as well as the correct use of fertilizer and pesticides, including natural pest control and compost. The goal is to maintain a record of the cocoa until its final delivery to the consumer, guaranteeing traceability on each of its processes from production, postharvest handling, and cocoa distribution.

Indicadores de impacto
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685

people

impacted

Contribución a los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible
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Sobre el promotor

About

WCA (Working Capital Associates) LLP

Working Capital Associates (WCA) se fundó en 2018 por Federica Sambiase – profesional senior del sector financiero y bancario – y CEO de la empresa. Experimentó de primera mano como los bancos comerciales tradicionales no conseguían adaptarse a las necesidades de los prestatarios de PYMES y sus requisitos hechos a medida, especialmente en regiones como SSA y Latam, donde la necesidad de crédito crecía rápidamente.

La visión de WCA refleja más de 20 años de experiencia de su líder en el mundo de las finanzas, así como la pasión por el desarrollo e igualdad de género, madurada y nutrida durante sus años como miembro de la junta directiva de la ONG Care International.

WCA es la única empresa – liderada por mujeres y cuya propiedad es totalmente femenina- que proporciona financiación directa a la cadena de valor de productos agrícolas en África subsahariana (SSA) y Latinoamérica (Latam).

WCA está comprometida con un enfoque de negocio profesional, ético y transparente, efectuando inversiones socialmente responsables “que permiten a los inversores abordar los criterios medioambientales, sociales y de gobernanza empresarial (ASG) mediante la inversión en soluciones específicas, como por ejemplo la energía renovable, gestión de residuos y agua, silvicultura y agricultura, productos de salud e inclusión financiera ” (PRI).

La empresa sigue dos cuestiones clave:

La empresa también aplica inversión en lentes de género, procurando financiar un nivel significativo de negocios liderados por mujeres que siguen los estándares de gestión sostenible y responsable.

El propósito de WCA es aumentar la cadena de valor proporcionando acceso a financiación a PYMES y enfocándose en tres principios clave dentro del marco de los ODS:

El equipo está compuesto por diez profesionales, gran parte del equipo miembros senior con más de 10 años de experiencia en mercados emergentes y/u operaciones financieras, y experiencia colectiva en financiación de más de 1 billón de dólares de deuda a corto plazo y transacciones comerciales de mercados emergentes.

Puedes saber más sobre el equipo aquí.

WCA también ha sido reconocido como un agente del mercado relevante, y como prueba de ello:

Asociación con Centro de Comercio Internacional de las Naciones Unidas, en el ámbito de apoyo comercial de actividades enfocadas de género.
Asociación con la Cámara de Comercio de Kenia.
Conferenciante en el Foro Mundial de Comercio y Desarrollo - Etiopía
Conferenciante en la Semana Sostenible de Suiza.
Conferenciante de la Cumbre Anual de Café de África del Este – Kenia.
Formador y colaborador en seminarios con la Cámara de Comercio de Kenia y del Centro de Comercio Internacional.

Sitio web del promotor

https://www.workingcapitalassociates.com/

Equipo

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Modelo de negocio
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