WHERE AND HOW WE SOURCE
TRACEABILE COCOA BEANS

We compose the bean blend for our Finest Belgian Chocolate with cocoa beans from farmer communities in 3 different countries. Each cocoa bean origin contributes to the unique, balanced taste of our chocolate in a very specific way .

Since we source all beans directly from the farmer communities registered in the Cocoa Horizons programmes, we can guarantee full traceability to all chefs who are working with our products.
 

IVORY COAST GHANA ECUADOR

The beans we source from Ivory Coast, yield the typical solid cocoa body
and intense chocolate taste in our chocolate.

HOW WE DIRECTLY SOURCE FROM
FARMER COOPERATIVES IN IVORY COAST

In Ivory Coast, we directly source high quality, main crop cocoa beans from 69 farmer cooperatives. The beans are collected in the cooperative warehouse where they undergo first quality checks. From there, the beans are centralised by the local Callebaut logistics centres who apply thorough quality assessment on bean size, moisture content, bean fermentation, etc. before they arrive in the port for shipment to Belgium.

COOPERATIVES AND FARMERS IN IVORY COAST

We directly source cocoa beans from:

• 69 cooperatives in total. They are all Cocoa Horizons certified and the farmers of all these cooperatives receive training and coaching by the Cocoa Horizons Foundation

• The cooperatives we partner with in Ivory Coast, represent over 32.000 farms and employ over 58.000 farmers: cocoa cultivation accounts for an important part of the Ivorian farmer families’ livelihoods

LOCATION

Cocoa cultivation is situated in the southern belt of Ivory Coast, stretching over the entire width of the country. The area around Yamoussoukro is the area where most of the cocoa cooperatives are located.

TRACEABILITY

In the Ivorian collection centres, every incoming bag of cocoa beans is registered together with the cooperative who provided the beans. The cooperatives themselves apply an analogue/handwritten register and can allocate every bag to the farmer who grew the beans. To date, we can process all data, up to the level of the cooperatives who collected the beans from the farmers.

HOW WE ASSESS THE QUALITY OF THE BEANS

In partnership with our farmers and Cocoa Horizons, we source quality grade cocoa beans from Ivory Coast:

ONLY MAIN CROP BEANS
Main crop cocoa beans are bigger in size and bring more taste to the chocolate. To select main crop beans, we apply a bean count on well dried beans: 100 g of beans should make less than 100 beans.

ONLY WELL-DRIED COCOA
The moisture content in our beans is below 8%. It guarantees the beans to be in the best conditions for storage and shipping.

ONLY WELL-FERMENTED COCOA
All lots of beans are quality checked to assure they have been well fermented. Good fermentation optimises the taste development in the beans.

ONLY IN JUTE BAGS
Jute is the ideal, natural barrier for the beans to ‘breathe’ during shipping and to keep them acclimatised during shipment and storage.

WHAT THE COCOA HORIZONS PROGRAMME MEANS FOR IVORIAN FARMERS

Cocoa Horizons organises farmer training in farmer field schools and on model farms around various topics:
- farm productivity and crop diversification
- best agricultural practices and environmental protection
- child labour sensitisation
- empowering entrepreneurship among young farmers and women-farmers

Cocoa Horizons pays farmers a premium and gives financial incentives for quality and yield improvements.

Next to training, Cocoa Horizons is also committed to community programs such as funding community schools, hospitals, potable water, etc.

MORE AT www.cocoahorizons.org