FDBusiness.com

Cargill’s work to improve livelihoods for cocoa farmers and their families in Africa, Asia and South America has earned it the US Chamber Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) 2010 International Community Service award. The award coincides with 21 cooperatives in Cote d’Ivoire, with over 11,000 farmer members, achieving independent sustainable cocoa certification as a result of Cargill’s Farmer Field Schools programme.

All 21 farmer cooperatives have received certification under UTZ Certified sustainable cocoa programme after successfully completing ten months of intensive training conducted through a network of 300 Cargill Farmer Field Schools in Cote d’Ivoire. The schools help small-scale farmers improve agricultural, environmental and social practices in cocoa production and to achieve UTZ Certification. The auditing is executed by independent certification bodies to ensure the highest level of credibility.

With demand from consumers for sustainable chocolate rising worldwide Cargill, a major originator of cocoa beans and producer of high quality chocolate, co-founded the UTZ Certified cocoa programme along with Dutch development organisation Solidaridad and others in the sector to ensure that cocoa is grown sustainably.

As a result of training and certification, farmers are benefitting from an increase in their incomes from higher yields and improved crop quality. More than 10,000 tonnes of cocoa beans will be available by the end of this year to be used in sustainably certified, high quality chocolate and cocoa products. Cargill expects a total of 60 cooperatives to be certified and the volume of cocoa beans to triple by the end of 2011 as training expands in Cote d’Ivoire and other cocoa producing countries in West Africa and Asia.

Already by the end of 2010, Cargill will have 25,000 farmers in various training programmes in Cote d’Ivoire and it is expanding to support tens of thousands more farmers over the coming years as part of a three-year $5m commitment to support sustainable cocoa in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana.

Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate offers the food industry a wide range of both standard and customised cocoa and chocolate ingredients to be used in bakery, confectionery, and dairy applications. As a leading provider of high quality chocolate and cocoa offerings across Europe and all over the world, the company’s extensive product range includes premium Gerkens cocoa powders, chocolate, including Wilbur, Peter’s, Veliche coatings, fillings, cocoa liquors and cocoa butters.