Cargill's Leading Sustainable Cocoa Program Boosts Profits for
Ivorian Cocoa Farmers
ABIDJAN, Cote d'Ivoire,
November 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
- 26,500 Ivorian farmers across 43 certified cooperatives receive
Cargill's sustainable cocoa premium totaling U.S. $7.6 million
- Over 60,000 Ivorian farmers are now part of Cargill's
sustainable cocoa program
- Cocoa communities benefit through enhanced social role of
cooperatives
Cargill's sustainable cocoa program has helped Ivorian farmers
have another profitable year by increasing yields, improving bean
quality and boosting their incomes. During the 2011/12 crop year,
approximately 26,500 Ivorian farmers across 43 UTZ and Rainforest
Alliance certified cooperatives have received Cargill's sustainable
cocoa premiums payments totalling U.S. $7.6
million - the highest ever pay-out for farmers in the
region.
(Logo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120709/543450 )
Cargill's annual premium payments recognise farmers for their
efforts to increase yields and improve the quality of the beans,
such as decreasing moisture and mould content - this helps to
continue to raise the quality of Ivorian cocoa beans. This year's
premium has raised farmers' direct revenues by 17 percent on
average. Cargill's customers who buy certified cocoa and chocolate
ingredients contribute directly to these premium payments. As such,
over the last three years, Cargill's premium payments to Ivorian
farmers have totalled more than U.S. $12.2
million.
These premiums were presented to farmers and cooperatives at an
event in Côte d'Ivoire on 24th October. The ceremony was
attended by the President of the Conseil Café Cacao and over 500
farmers from all of the cooperatives that are participating in
Cargill's sustainability program - making this one of the largest
gatherings for the Ivorian cocoa farming community this year.
Speaking on behalf of the ECASO cooperative, farmer Yao N'Dri
Pascal explains what benefits he and his cooperative have seen
since participating in Cargill's sustainable cocoa program: "By
participating in Cargill's farmer training, I was given the unique
opportunity to learn how to best manage and maintain my cocoa farm.
Thanks to this training, I have been able to reduce the number of
incidences of black pod disease while using fewer pesticides -
creating high quality cocoa beans and a healthier rejuvenated
farm."
Pascal continues, "Certification premiums have helped boost my
income and also supported community projects led by the
cooperative. Thanks to the payments, ECASO's management has
financed the building of a new school with three classrooms, the
renovation of another three schools in our communities, and the
construction of a shop in Soubre that offers farm equipment and
materials."
Since the introduction of Cargill's sustainable cocoa program in
Côte d'Ivoire, the company has continued to scale up the amount of
certified cocoa it has available to the market and is now sourcing
nearly 20 percent of its annual cocoa supply as certified
sustainable cocoa.
Cargill is continuing to invest over U.S. $3 million a year in financing, training and
support to the Ivorian cocoa community to maintain and strengthen
the sustainable cocoa supply chain. Its sustainable cocoa program
also supports communities with education and health programs. As a
result of Cargill's sustainability program 87 cooperatives have
been certified and another 25 are starting the program, which is
now reaching over 60,000 Ivorian farmers. Cargill is on target to
source over 100,000 tonnes of certified sustainable cocoa beans
from Côte d'Ivoire by 2015 - making its program the largest of its
kind in the country.
Jos De Loor, President for Cargill Cocoa and Chocolate says; "We
are proud to recognise the efforts made by the Ivorian
cooperatives, farmers and the cocoa growing communities towards
creating this sustainable supply chain for cocoa. As the 60,000
farmers complete their training, we expect that all the
participating cooperatives will achieve independent certification
by the end of 2013. As a result of this, volumes of certified cocoa
available to our customers will continue to increase, enabling
Cargill to help our customers meet the demand for sustainable cocoa
products."
Due to the success of Cargill's sustainable cocoa program in
Côte d'Ivoire, Cargill has expanded its farmer training activities
to Ghana, Cameroon, Brazil, Vietnam and recently Indonesia.
Case Study of ECASO cooperative
available
Photos available on request
Notes for
editors:
Cargill
Cargill is an international producer and marketer of food,
agricultural, financial and industrial products and services.
Founded in 1865, the privately held company employs 142,000 people
in 65 countries. Cargill helps customers succeed through
collaboration and innovation, and is committed to sharing its
global knowledge and experience to help meet economic,
environmental and social challenges wherever it does business.
For more information, visit http://www.cargill.com.
About Cargill Cocoa &
Chocolate
Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate offers the food industry a
wide range of both standard and customised cocoa and chocolate
ingredients to be used in delicious bakery, confectionery, and
dairy applications all over the world. Our product range includes
high quality Gerkens® cocoa powders, chocolate including Wilbur®,
Peter's® and Veliche®, coatings, fillings, cocoa liquors and cocoa
butters. With years of experience in technical food expertise
Cargill supports its customers in new recipes and new product
development.
Our facilities in Belgium,
Brazil, Canada, Côte d'Ivoire, France, Germany, Ghana, the
Netherlands, UK and the USA
are fully dedicated to produce in accordance with the highest food
safety standards.
To secure a good quality and sustainable supply of cocoa beans
we have our own cocoa bean sourcing operations for buying, handling
and/or exporting of cocoa beans in Brazil, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Indonesia and Vietnam. Presence in all the leading producing
countries allows Cargill to oversee the supply chain from beans at
origin to cocoa and chocolate products on our customers' doorstep.
In addition, extensive market research and analysis proves to be a
source of valuable information to our customers.
http://www.cargill.com/news
CONTACT:
Wendy Garbutt:
+44-(0)1932-861-174
wendy_garbutt@cargill.com