Barry Callebaut to conduct UTZ certified trainings in C?te d'Ivoire

ZURICH- Cocoa supply chain intermediaries at C?te d'Ivoire are undergoing agricultural training activities with Barry Callebaut’s own sustainability experts and UTZ Certified representatives. The company has previous experience in training cooperatives and farmer groups to be independently certified.
Eight intermediaries in key cocoa growing regions will undergo the training to meet the sustainability standards of UTZ Certified, an independent certification program for cocoa. The local intermediaries provide services to some 13,000 independent farmers in their respective regions including the collection and purchase of fermented and dried cocoa beans.
“Whilst work to strengthen and expand the number of cooperatives in C?te d'Ivoire is continuing, most cocoa farmers are not members of farmer organisations and sell their beans to local intermediaries,” says Nicholas Camu, group manager of Cocoa Horizons.
“To advance sustainable cocoa production, and to complement our work with farmer organisations, we are developing innovative programs to reach many of these unaffiliated farmers and intermediaries. We are pleased to be working with UTZ Certified in this new training effort.”
Apart from orienting farmer trainers, Barry Callebaut will assist administrators in developing documentation and implementing internal control systems, as required by the UTZ Certified program.
"UTZ Certified is a program and a label for sustainable farming," says Daan de Vries, field director UTZ Certified. "As a program, it functions as an architect and enabler of sustainable supply chains. To reach our shared goal to make sustainability the norm rather than an exception, we need to work closely with all players in the cocoa value chain. We are very pleased with the commitment of the participating intermediaries and Barry Callebaut to work to achieve long-term economic viability for producers and markets, protect our natural resources and contribute to improving farmer livelihoods.”