Cocoa and Chocolate
Cocoa Facts
* Cocoa pods are about the size of footballs and contain pulp and
moist white cocoa beans which are dried, roasted, and shelled.
The beans often go through alkalization to improve colouring
and flavour, and are then reduced to a cocoa liquor, which can
be pressed to make cocoa butter, cocoa powder, or mixed with
other ingredients to become chocolate.
* The trees develop slowly, taking as long as 10 years to achieve
maximum yield.
* It takes a full annual harvest from one cocoa tree to produce
one tin of baking cocoa
* Cocoa beans were first consumed by the Olmec people of
Mexico (circa 1000 BC) and later cultivated by the Maya.
* Canadians consume an average of 5.5 kg of chocolate per
person each year
* 90% of the world’s cocoa is grown on small family farms of
12 acres or less
Source : TransFair Canada |
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Did you know that…?
- Each Canadian eats an average of 6,7 kg of
chocolate per year.
- 90 % of the worldwide production of cocoa comes
from little family farms of 12 acres or less.
- Fair trade cocoa is produced by cooperatives
gathering almost 42 000 producers in 8 countries.
- Fair trade principles advocate durable agricultural
techniques.
- For a lot of families, fair trade makes the difference
between being able to send kids to school or
sending them to work in the fields. Hundreds of
thousands of children are currently working
in staggering conditions denounced by Unicef.
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A Fair Price!
More than 30 developing world economies rely on the cocoa industry with 14 million people world-wide directly involved in cocoa production. Farmers are often paid prices for their cocoa which don’t cover the costs of production or provide a sustainable livelihood. Lack of market access and affordable credit drives cocoa farmers to sell to middlemen where they may receive a fraction of the value of their harvest. Child labour on cocoa farms has been an important issue, particularly in Ivory Coast where forced labour of children has been documented.
(Source : TransFair Canada)
Equita pays the producer organisations :
- The Fair Trade guaranteed minimum price of 1 600 $ US per tonne which covers the costs of
production. If the market price is higher than the Fair Trade minimum price, then Equita pays
the market price. Important : the minimum guaranteed Fair Trade price is paid directly to the
producer coop. By comparison, for non-Fair Trade cocoa, it is estimated by the Food and
Agriculture Organisation that small producers perceive only half of the world market price.
- A Fair Trade premium of 150 $ US per tonne which producers must invest in development and
community projects
- An extra “organic premium” of 200 $ US per tonne for it’s organic certified cocoa.
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