First cocoa co-operatives receive UTZ certification

Two cocoa producing farmer co-operatives in Cote d’Ivoire have become the first to be certified under the UTZ certified cocoa sustainability programme.

Co-operative Agricole de Fiedifoue and Coopaga received the first UTZ certificates after working with Cargill and Solidaridad, both founding members of the programme alongside others in the cocoa sector. The intensive eight-month programme trained 1,590 farmers in responsible and sustainable agriculture practices. The first UTZ certified sustainable cocoa will be available by the end of 2009.

Harold Poelma, managing director of cocoa, Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate says, “For many years we have run training programmes for farmers believing it is the best way to bring sustainability ” in all senses of the word ” into the supply chain.”
Daan de Vries, UTZ certified programme manager for cocoa, adds, “This is an exciting first step towards mainstream certified cocoa trade. We look forward to scaling up the program to support more small-scale farmers in the coming months and years.”

Related content

Leave a reply

Confectionery Production