US Family-owned Guittard Chocolate Company launches its Cultivate Better™ Cocoa initiative.
Cultivate Better™ Cocoa is a program designed to drive change to the supply chain, benefiting the farmers and communities.
They aim to engage with cooperatives and development partners to create comprehensive programs that boost primary income streams by collaborating with farmers to improve and protect the unique flavor profiles of their cocoa.
The premiums they receive are directly allocated to supporting farm-level quality and flavor investments, gender equality, income diversification, health, nutrition, and agroforestry initiatives.
Through partnerships with on-the-ground organizations, Cultivate Better™ Cocoa programs work together to address the following key opportunities within three origins—Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Ecuador to:
- Empower Prospering Farmers: Creating value through flavor quality. Cultivate Better™ Cocoa and its local partners educate farmers on identifying and preserving flavour through agricultural practices, enabling farmers to grow a more valuable product that ensures the long-term prosperity of their business and their communities.
- Inspire Thriving Communities: Through partnerships with local organizations, Guittard co-implements programs focused on gender equity, income diversification, child welfare, education, health, and nutrition—all essential components to a thriving community.
- Encourage Environmental Preservation: Guittard and local organisations partner with farmers to protect their farms and the planet by promoting sustainable, climate-smart agricultural practices such as crop diversification, composting, agroforestry, and conservation of forests for shade and soil health.
As part of Guittard’s commitment to the initiative, Collection Etienne products will be part of Cultivate Better™ Cocoa, ensuring that the chocolate is not also sustainably grown and thoughtfully sourced.
The launch of CultivateBetter™ Cocoa coincides with the launch of Guittard’s updated line of Collection Etienne single-origin chocolate, for which Guittard also pays higher premiums to its farmers. Guittard’s four newly re-imagined single origin chocolates come in,72% Ecuador, 70% Grenada, 66% Peru, and 64% Madagascar.
