Welcome to the Cacao-Trace Support Page
At Cacao-Trace, we are committed to transforming the cocoa sector by addressing critical challenges and promoting sustainable practices. Our program is designed to improve the lives of cocoa farmers, ensure high-quality chocolate production, and foster community development. Below, you'll find answers to frequently asked questions about our initiatives and how you can support our mission
Farmers’ Poverty: 90% of cocoa farmers live below the living income line, and 68% of them below the extreme poverty line, limiting their access to essential services and sustainable farming practices¹.
Child Labor: Financial pressures lead to child labor, depriving children of education and exposing them to hazardous conditions. Child labor still is an important challenge in the cocoa sector. 1.6M children are still concerned only in Ivory Coast and Ghana². This has an impact on their health, education, and their future.
Deforestation: Without sustainability farming practices, cocoa farming drives deforestation, leading to biodiversity loss and contributing to climate change. 28% of primary forest was lost in the past 20 years in Ivory Coast³.
Inconsistent quality, presence of foreign matter, high count of free fatty acids, and under-fermented beans.
Addressing these issues requires fair compensation, eliminating child labor, and promoting sustainable farming. Programs like Cacao-Trace support these efforts for a more sustainable and equitable cocoa sector.
¹ Source: 2021, “A Living Income for Cocoa Producers in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana?”, Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems
² Source: https://www.cocoainitiative.org
³ Source: https://www.globalforestwatch.org/dashboards/country/CIV/Cacao-Trace is a sustainable cocoa program designed to improve the lives of cocoa farmers and ensure the production of high-quality, sustainable chocolate. Our program focuses on mastering fermentation, better farming practices, fair compensation, community life-changing projects, and environmental protection.
Cacao-Trace provides farmers with training on high quality cocoa, sustainable farming techniques, ensures they receive a fair price for their cocoa, and offers additional income through our Quality Premium and Chocolate Bonus initiatives. We are engaged in cocoa farming communities to improve their livelihoods by building schools, maternity wards, water wells, and other life-changing initiatives.
Cacao-Trace emphasizes quality, creating value through fermentation and sharing that value back to the farming communities. Furthermore, it is not just a certification, Cacao-Trace goes beyond industry standards by focusing on direct impact. We work closely with farmers to implement sustainable practices and ensure they benefit directly from the program. Our approach is holistic, addressing social, economic, and environmental aspects. We are working hand in hand, on the ground with our Cacao-Trace dedicated teams to ensure the best impact in cocoa communities.
How does Cacao-Trace ensure the quality of its cocoa?
The cornerstone of our quality and taste expertise lies in mastering the fermentation process, ensuring those in charge are properly trained. This guarantees our chocolate and cocoa-based products have a great taste.
We have a rigorous verification process that includes regular audits and adherence to the Cacao-Trace Standard, which covers seven key principles. This ensures that the cocoa produced meets high-quality standards and is sustainably sourced.
What is fermentation and how does it affect the taste of my chocolate?
Fermentation is essential to the rich flavor of your chocolate, much like it is for wine. Just as winemakers carefully ferment grapes to develop complex flavors, we meticulously ferment cocoa beans to enhance the taste of your chocolate. We establish Post-Harvest Centers in local communities, where we use special wooden boxes for fermenting cocoa beans, similar to the vats used in winemaking. We also train community members to become experts in this process. Our fermentation lasts 6 to 7 days and is customized to the local beans, ensuring the best taste for the chocolate made from them, just as the fermentation process is tailored to different grape varieties to produce the finest wines.
If you're a professional looking for a chocolate or cocoa-based product, contact us for more information.
It you're a chocolate lover, you can support Cacao-Trace by choosing products made with Cacao-Trace certified cocoa. Look for our logo on packaging and learn more about our initiatives on our website. Your purchase helps us continue our mission to create a sustainable future for cocoa.
For more detailed information, visit our website, or contact us directly through our Join Us page. We are here to answer your questions and provide more insights into our program.