Work group created to promote Central American cacao chain

A new group is forming in Central America, in the form of a volunteer network to promote cacao marketing from the region to external markets, especially Europe and the United States. The fundamental idea is to bring together the interests of the diverse producers and organic cacao merchants in the region.  In this development, the marketing of organic cacao is included in a special way.

The initial members of this workgroup are the Regional Project for Integrated Ecosystem Management in Indigenous Communities (PMIIE), the Indigenous and Rural Community Agroforestry Coordination Association (ACICAFOC), the Toledo Cacao Growers Association of Belize, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (FIDA), the Caribbean Development Bank, Green and Black (purchaser) and the Regional Unit for Technical Assistance (RUTA), among others.

The first task of this network will consist of developing a meeting with one or more of the marketing companies, as part of an upcoming regional gathering of indigenous producer organizations, in order for these organizations to learn about the alternative market conditions, while at the same time, the marketing companies understand the existing and future supply. The idea is to facilitate commercial exchange by improving each party’s knowledge of fair trade and other operational systems.  In particular, the group seeks to establish business deals whose benefits will be fairly distributed.

In many parts of the Central American region, where cacao cultivation is an ancestral activity of the indigenous people along with other growers, production of this crop has been encouraged as a way to improve the income in those populations.

The organic cacao trade is focused primarily outside the region, toward the specialized markets in the United States and Europe.  The Central American cacao supply for this trade comes from organizations of small producers, who in some cases have had technical assistance to improve production techniques and market share. Generally speaking, these organizations work individually and have little connection to other similar organizations that sell organic cacao in neighboring countries.

Demand for organic cacao comes from companies producing specialty chocolates, which are for the most part located outside of Central America.  This often complicates the coordination of supply and demand in conditions agreeable to both parties.  It is possible to improve the existing trade conditions, facilitating greater information exchange about market conditions for organic cacao, which could result in advantages for the producer organizations in their commercial dealings.

The group or volunteer network will work toward bringing about this exchange of knowledge and resources between those who produce and market cacao in Central America and those who buy it outside the region.