The Brussels Development Briefing no. 44 on “Promoting responsible and sustainable sourcing through Fair Trade” took place on 22 June 2016 from 9:00 to 13:00, at the ACP Secretariat in Brussels, Belgium. This Briefings was co-organised by CTA, the European Commission / DEVCO, the ACP Secretariat, CONCORD and the Fair Trade Advocacy Office.

1. DIVINE CHOCOLATE:
A FARMER-CENTRIC MODEL OF
SUSTAINABILITY
Brussels Policy Briefing 44
22nd June 2016
Charlotte Borger, Communications Director

2. • Average income from cocoa – 4200 cedis or 943 Euros
• Outgoing costs: food, school, fuel + farm inputs, equipment
• Not surprising next generation aspires to be nurses,
teachers, seamstresses, hairdressers – anything but cocoa
farming
• If we want to carry on enjoying chocolate, cocoa farmers
need sustainable remuneration – enough to invest in their
farms and their families + a fairer share of the value they are
creating
Why be a cocoa farmer?

3. In 1997 the farmers of the Kuapa Kokoo co-operative
voted to set up their own chocolate company

4. The world market
• $10 billion = World Cocoa Market (UNCTAD 2011/12)
• $107 billion = World Chocolate Market (UNCTAD 2011/12)
The UK market
• Very mature and competitive market
• Dominated by 3 companies

5. A chocolate brand
with farmers at its heart

6. Divine success
• Divine Chocolate recently merged it’s UK and USA
businesses making it a £12.6m company
• Kuapa Kokoo owns 44% - the biggest shareholder
• Traceable supply chain from bean to bar
• Divine sells in 10 countries around the world
• Divine is made in 12 different factories across Europe
• Divine buys 1000 tonnes of cocoa per year
• Divine sources Fairtrade ingredients from
seven farmer organisations around the world
• Award winning social enterprise and Fairtrade
leader

8. • The only Fairtrade
chocolate company
owned by cocoa farmers
• Fairtrade delivers
reliable income and
funds to invest in better
living and working
standards
• Company ownership
delivers profits,
knowledge and power
Fairtrade
and beyond

9. What Fairtrade delivers:
Farmers decide

10. What ownership
means for
the farmers
Profits
• Sole supplier of cocoa
• Fairtrade price for their cocoa
• Additional income to invest in business
development, skills, and democratic
process
• 44% of the company’s distributed
profits
• A share in the wealth they have helped
create
• Collateral against which to attract
loans

11. Knowledge
• Understanding of the cocoa industry
• First-hand experience of chocolate
market
• Face to face communication with UK
consumers, retailers, politicians and
activists
• Access to latest developments in
farming and conservation
• Knowledge they can share with other
farmers
• Adult literacy – especially for women
What ownership
means for
the farmers

12. Power
• The power to make their own
investment decisions
• Seats on the Divine board
• Influence in the business development
of Divine
• Status in the cocoa industry
• A voice in the chocolate market
• Control over their own future
What ownership
means for
the farmers

13. What success
looks like
Kuapa Kokoo benefits from four income streams from Divine
• Income from cocoa sales (Fairtrade minimum $2000 per tonne)
• Fairtrade premium per tonne cocoa ($200)
• Profit dividend (44% share of distributed profit)
• Producer support & development fund (2% of annual turnover)
Since Divine was established in 1998, it has made over £100m and
delivered over £2m for Producer Support & Development and over
£205K in distributed profit
SIGNIFICANT BENEFITS TO FARMERS

14. What success
looks like
GROWTH, AND GOOD GOVERNANCE
• Kuapa Kokoo has grown to 85,000+ members, producing 48,000
tonnes of cocoa = 7% of Ghana’s output, over 1% of the world’s
cocoa
• Kuapa Kokoo is decentralising management across its 57 districts
• Kuapa members travel as ambassadors around the world to speak
to consumers, government, and business
• Kuapa has its own radio programme – best way to reach dispersed
and low-literacy audience (funded by Divine PS&D)
EMPOWERING WOMEN & PROTECTING CHILDREN
• 35% of Kuapa Kokoo members are women
• The last two elected Presidents have been women
• Women members are participating in adult literacy programmes
(funded by Divine PS&D), women’s groups, and skills training
• Kuapa Kokoo has its own active Child Labour Awareness Policy
and programme & a strong focus on education

15. What might keep farmers growing
cocoa?
• Sustainable remuneration – enough to live on, improve & adapt farm,
educate family and plan for the future
• Opportunity to add value to cocoa and/or share the value of chocolate
• Skills to adapt & diversify + improve quality & yield of crop
• Literacy and women’s empowerment to enable inclusive access to
skills and training and leadership
• Part of a community all pulling together – sharing facilities, knowledge
and accountability (not all migrating to cities)
• In control of their own business and development

16. Make the moment Divine!

17. Thank you