Cacao-Trace® is the symbol of Puratos’ sustainable cocoa field programme and stakeholder certification. It requires annual audits to be undertaken by an independent third-party organisation. It also demands continuous improvement. The programme is currently active in Ivory Coast and Vietnam, and we have plans to expand our Cacao-Trace sourcing to more countries in South-East Asia, West Africa and Latin America.

Cacao-Trace® is a cocoa programme that encompasses all the standard elements of sustainable certification. It is also the ONLY one to include taste and quality within a sustainable programme (through fermentation mastering) and the ONLY one to feature an innovative remuneration scheme, which rebalances profit sharing in the supply chain (through the ‘chocolate bonus’).

The holistic approach of Cacao-Trace® ensures that our five winning aspirations not only drive change but have a real positive impact for the cocoa farmers :

1. An economically viable cocoa supply chain: being in direct contact with cocoa farmers enables us to provide them with the skills they need to better manage their plantations, increase their yields and make sure that cocoa farming is a viable long-term activity for them. In this way, Puratos secures and better manages the supply chains of its cocoa ingredients to different factories across the world.
2. Environmental protection and fighting global warming are also key to safeguarding long-term cocoa production. We support farmers in implementing best practices and ‘agroforestry’ projects, which involve creating combined plantations of cocoa + wood + fruit trees that work in synergy together. These are also complementary ways to boost farm productivity and consequently the farmers’ income and health. The increased soil, flora and fauna biodiversity on the plantations increases their resilience to extreme weather conditions (such as drought and flooding). It also results in better, cleaner cocoa harvests.
3. Combining sustainability, superior taste and consistent quality is important to us, our customers and consumers. That is why we have invested in exclusive post-harvest centres where we collect, ferment and dry the cocoa beans ourselves. This unique approach has enabled us to master the fermentation process, a crucial step in ensuring high-quality cocoa that consistently meets our stringent quality standards. In return, farmers are rewarded with a better price for their better cocoa. They receive quality premiums linked to the quality of the cocoa they supply – a real incentive for continuous quality improvement.
4. Finally, we know that supporting farmers is also about helping them and their families to have a sustainable living. We believe the chocolate bonus can rebalance the power relationship in the supply chains. Consumers and customers will be able to contribute towards lifting farmers and their communities out of poverty thanks to a fixed contribution that is part of the price of Cacao-Trace products. With full transparency, 100% of this consumer contribution is received by the farmers. In turn, it helps create communities that farmers and their children would want to live in, all while encouraging the next generation of cocoa farmers.
5. We also believe that children should never be harmed or exploited in cocoa farming, and that cocoa farming can – and must – play a positive role in farming communities. We plan to focus our action on child education and protection, at the same time as reducing the number of children exposed to unsafe activities.

For more information about our Cacao-Trace programme, visit: www.cacaotrace.com