In particular, the APROCAM cooperative focuses on identifying the best cocoa clones, grown on a special clone plantation according to various criteria: number of beans per pod, thickness of the pod’s rind, plant productivity, and flavor profile.
In our working and business relationship with APROCAM, we pay a purchase price for the cocoa level with the highest market rates, as well as an additional premium.
Our projects engagements valors in the countries of origin
Perù
Continuous growth
We collaborate with numerous local cooperatives in Peru. These are long-standing relationships and are always aimed at strengthening and developing the cooperative itself. In addition to our commercial relationships, we’ve also established genuine partnerships in this South American country, making it possible for the cooperatives to access funding and, with our support, to develop sustainable research and development projects. These collaborations are built with the intention of improving the quality of life for the campesinos by raising the quality of the cocoa we grow together.
The APROCAM project
Learn more about the project with APROCAM
Learn more about the project with ACOPAGRO
Learn more about the project with COPASER
Less coca, more cocoa
In 2015, the Peruvian government began work to redevelop the land, seeking partners to convert coca plantations to cocoa plantations.
While green leaves and cocoa beans are two very different riches, they are both from Peru, one of the main cocaine-producing countries in the world. Through anti-drug policies supported by the National Commission for Development and Life Without Drugs (DEVIDA), a large amount of land was converted, offering an alternative source of income to those farmers wishing to embrace change.
The project has continued since then with extremely positive results, both social and environmental.
- Cocoa farming has brought real benefit to the land, unlike intensive coca farming which causes deforestation and soil degradation.
- The farmers have seen an increase in income, as well as a reduction in the risks related to illegal farming under the management of drug cartels; cocoa farming is legally protected and actively promoted by the government.
An international case study
Our project in Peru was featured at the Milan Expo 2015 as an example of sustainability and positive commitment.
Local cooperatives played a crucial role in the success of this conversion, as did sustainable, conscious companies like ICAM, who import cocoa and transform it into high-quality chocolate, tracing it throughout the entire supply chain.
“We shared our know-how through improvements to the plantations, the harvest, fermentation, and drying. At the beginning of the year, we guarantee purchase so that the cooperatives work on the sold product and are not subject to price fluctuations. It is an honor for us to contribute to their success and the ideals that inspire them”. Angelo Agostoni
Our projects
See what we have achieved in Uganda and the Dominican Republic
