From bean to bar, Haiti's cocoa wants international recognition

Published 2020년 12월 27일

Tridge summary

Haiti is developing its cocoa industry, with the first cocoa cooperative, Feccano, organizing exchanges in 2001 and targeting the market for fine and aromatic cocoa. The industry has attracted investment from the private sector, with logistical challenges such as small farm sizes and socio-political unrest. Master chocolatier Ralph Leroy started his chocolate company, Makaya, in 2016 and has seen success with about 20 employees. The industry is targeting international markets and has achieved organic and fair trade certifications, with Haitian cocoa being sold in the United States.

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Original content

PORT-AU-PRINCE: Although small in the face of South America's giants, Haiti is slowly developing its cocoa industry, earning better incomes for thousands of farmers and refuting the stereotype that culinary art is the preserve of wealthy countries. Haiti's annual production of 5,000 tonnes of cocoa pales in comparison to the 70,000 tonnes produced per year by neighboring Dominican Republic, but the sector's development is recent in the island nation. Feccano, a federation of cocoa cooperatives in northern Haiti, became the first group to organize exchanges in 2001 by prioritising farmers' profits. "Before, there was the systematic destruction of cocoa trees because the market price wasn't interesting for farmers who preferred very short-cycle crops," said Guito Gilot, Feccano's commercial director. The cooperative now works with more than 4,000 farmers in northern Haiti. Workers at Makaya, a chocolate company in Petionville, Haiti, sort cocoa beans. (Photo: AFP/Valerie Baeriswyl) ...

Source: Channelnewsasia