And behind it all there’s a small team who are passionate about offering high-quality, ethical chocolates.
Organic cocoa is a good thing, but at Kaoka, we have decided to go further: by integrating the protection of fragile ecosystems, the fight against deforestation, the cultivation of cocoa in agroforestry, reforestation, soil restoration…
Since 1993, Kaoka has been working to ensure that growing cocoa is a genuine path to economic development for its partners growers: a better income thanks to a fair price and technical support to help them produce more while respecting the environment.
thanks to 30 years’ experience of working in partnership with growers. Cultivating the best varieties, improving the quality of harvests year after year and mastering the art of fermenting and drying cocoa to guarantee aromatic chocolates with an exceptional taste.
Because the “fair trade” dimension is part of an overall approach, Kaoka wants its quality organic chocolates to be accessible to as many people as possible.
Our answer is that we use the integrated programs’ model.
A model that we have spent several years building with our partner growers.
Take a look at it, step by step.
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1 We are building strong, sustainable cooperatives The adventure begins with the creation of a solid, sustainable cooperative. It is built on a principle of solidarity and exchange between the growers and Kaoka. We share our mutual needs and define our reciprocal commitments.
For the grower: growing traditional cocoa varieties in compliance with organic farming standards;
For Kaoka: making a long-term commitment, buying and pre-financing 100% of the cocoa at a higher purchase price, providing technical support as and when required, etc.
We ensure that the co-operatives we work with are sustainable, i.e. that they are well organised and that the management of their financial resources is healthy. -
2 Together, we are organising the production and its enhancement The challenge here is to support growers in cultivating quality cocoa, while respecting the rules of organic farming. They are technically trained.
After harvesting, the cocoa is fermented and dried. It is during this process that it develops all its flavours. As a general rule, the cocoa is bought already fermented and dried by the producer.
Kaoka's speciality: buying fresh cocoa. At Kaoka, the fermentation and drying stages are handled by the associations and cooperatives that have the appropriate infrastructure (fermentation crates, solar dryers). Growers are relieved of this stage and are paid as soon as the cocoa is harvested.
Our close links with growers organisations enable us to guarantee the exceptional quality of our cocoa beans. -
3 with growers, we identify the programs' issues Each program operates in a different context and our partner growers are faced with specific difficulties.
For example, in Ecuador, the Nacional cocoa variety, considered a part of the country’s heritage, is threatened.
In São Tomé, the plantations were ageing and becoming unproductive, jeopardizing the income of growers.
In Peru, it is again the productivity and therefore the growers’ income which is affected, except that here, the issue is not the ageing of the plantations but the deterioration of their soil.
The challenge for Kaoka is twofold: to seek efficient and sustainable solutions so that cocoa growing is truly profitable for growers and to perpetuate the cultivation of high quality organic cocoa. -
4 together, we're looking for and implementing solutions Solutions are sought in partnership with the growers and can sometimes take several years.
In Ecuador, we have developed innovative agronomic techniques to renovate plantations and significantly improve cocoa harvests in terms of both quantity and quality. This was an achievement we were able to duplicate in São Tomé. In Peru, we encourage growers to favour agroforestry. We support them in rebalancing the soil's pH and enriching it with organic matter.
To encourage the exchange and transmission of farming know-how, we organise meetings between growers from our different programs.
We are only able to set up these projects because of our long-term commitment to our grower partners. It is the combination of all these solutions that enables them to increase their harvests. -
5 We guarantee growers a remunerative job and our customers high-quality cocoa. A grower’s income depends not only on the selling price of their cocoa, but also on the amount of cocoa they harvest! Which is why, at Kaoka, we implement a global approach. Thanks to our technical and agronomic support, as you can imagine, growers' yields are increasing significantly. Coupled with a higher price agreed directly with the growers, their incomes really and sustainably improve.
At the same time, the quality of our cocoa is enhanced year after year, thanks to agronomic work and the expertise in fermentation and drying carried out in each of our programs.
Our unique model of integrated programs enables rigorous quality controls at every stage: from planting to blending to the preparation of recipes.
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experience in the field with its growers partners to defend organic and ethical chocolate
integrated cocoa programs : Ecuador, Peru, São Tomé and Dominican Republic
The cocoa you find in the paste and cocoa butter of Kaoka® chocolates comes exclusively from our 4 integrated programs.
100% of our fair trade ingredients are physically traced to guarantee the best traceability of our chocolates.
planted in partnership with our grower partners as part of agroforestry programmes and the renovation of 1,330 ha of plantations between 2018 and 2022
partner growers in 2022