Resilient Cocoa Farming

The goal of this campaign is to provide production and export financing to a fair trade, certified, female owned and female-led, Cocoa aggregator, processor, local seller and exporter, operating with more than 3,000 local producers in the Northern regions of Cajamarca, San Martín and Amazonas and the central region of Huánuco – the four regions collectively producing 55% of the Peruvian yearly total cocoa produce, for a total aggregate of 23,400 Metric Tons per year.

The Company, is in Tarapoto (San Martin) and concentrates 10% of the local market share, ranking as the third largest cocoa bean marketer in Peru. Its vision is to improve the quality of life of its farming partners, offering training and technical assistance, and to be recognized by the local and international community as suppliers of inputs for quality, developing customized products, with commitment, ethics and trust. This vision and strategy is reinforced by several certifications, from which Fair Trade (Comércio Justo) and USDA Organic should be highlighted.

The Fair Trade Certification is particularly relevant, as it places the Company in the 13% out of the 33million global cocoa producers that have achieved such certification which, among others, ensures that the cocoa processing and procurement is free of child slavery labour – the Fair Trade certification is particularly strict in this regard, and with yearly inspections in the sourcing farms, has no tolerance for any abusive labour practices.

Peru is the sixth largest producer of cocoa worldwide, the second largest organic cocoa producer (after the Dominican Republic) and the number one fair-trade organic cocoa producer worldwide.

The worldwide demand for cocoa is growing and especially the demand for certified cocoa is expected to continue to grow in Europe over the next years, with two clear increasing trends: search for sustainable (certified) chocolate products, i.e. cocoa bean production that complies with social, environmental and economic aspects and where the whole process is successfully certified by a third party; and towards authentic ingredients and single origin cocoa products.

Less than 10 years ago, thousands of farmers used their plots in the Northern Highlands of the Selva region to grow coca - while coca provided a steady income in remote regions, the illicit crop also brought with it the violence of drug traffickers and their allies. The government was eager to eradicate it and with the collaboration of the military, police, local, regional and national governments and initiatives from international donors and the private sector, Peruvian coca farmers were converted to cocoa (and coffee) farming and Peru has, in the last years, quickly built a global reputation for producing traditionally cultivated, shade grown, high quality cocoa beans.

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.