Puratos Group rolls out cocoa sustainability program in Papua New Guinea

Program improves fermentation process for optimized taste.

Puratos Group has implemented its Cacao-Trace program in Papua New Guinea, improving fermentation and drying processes. Photo by Puratos.

Puratos Group has introduced its Cacao-Trace sustainable cocoa sourcing program to Papua New Guinea.

Cacao-Trace is designed to aid cacao farmers in implementing a more sustainable and environmentally beneficial harvesting model, as well as helping them produce higher quality chocolate.

Following a successful trial run of the program in Vietnam, Côte d’Ivoire and the Philippines, Puratos has rolled out Cacao-Trace in Papua New Guinea. The first stage involved having 60 local post-harvest cocoa centers adopt a standardized fermentation process that meets Cacao-Trace’s quality standards.

Once the foundations for the program are in place, the farms will be continually monitored under Cacao-Trace’s guidelines. Later the Chocolate Bonus program will be implemented, which returns 10 cents to the farmers for each kilo of chocolate purchased, adding up to the equivalent of one or two extra months of minimum salary for a cocoa farmer.

Last year, the Vietnam and Philippines locations received $190,840 for Philippines and Vietnam through this program. These efforts are made to improve the positive impact of Cacao-Trace on the local community areas.

A graduate Saint Charles East High School in St. Charles, Ill., intern Christian Metzger studies communications and journalism at Lake Forest College. He previously interned at the Wayne Examiner, a newspaper serving 1,000 readers in the western Chicago suburb of Wayne.