Our Key Sustainable Focus Elements
High
Farm-gate
prices
Currently we work with more than 1000 cocoa producers throughout Nicaragua. Some of them are particularly small (less than 1Ha) and can’t afford to invest in labor or in transport.
To be able to work with them we offer the benefit of collection at farm-gate. Our truck goes biweekly to the plantations to collect the cocoa in wet-mass so the producer doesn’t have to deal with the risk and the cost of post-harvest, and can focus on the management of their plantation. Furthermore, this enables us to control fermentation from the very beginning, hence improving the flavor development of the beans, and guaranteeing consistency and quality for our customers.
To mantain a sustainable model and encourage producers to continue cultivating fine cocoa instead of more productive trees of lower quality, we are paying our producers a premium price.
Producers receive payment for each kilo of dried cocoa despite being delivered in wet-mass. The price paid is NY stock exchange + 25%, which is among the highest price paid to producers in the world.
Cocoa is really making a difference in the lives of our producers.
Business training programs and Technical Assistance
To make sure that the producers make the most out of their plantations, we’ve created training programs free of charge:
ACADEMIA DE CACAO
The first one is Academia de Cacao, a technical training program of four modules designed to train the producer how to manage their trees (pruning, nutrition etc), their plantation and control pest and diseases.
PROFE
The other is The Profe Project, a business program focused on encouraging producers to have future plans, inventories, registers of costs and income. The purpose is to create increased awareness and better decision making. Both programs are followed up by in-field advisors who visit the producers daily.
FREE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Our technicians assist producers to implement Best Practices.
Partners to
facilitate access
to credit
We promote and develop training programs to Nicaraguan financial institutions to inform them about the cocoa sector in the country, the performance of our producers and the international market access we assure to them.
Through our trainings, financial institutions are encourage to provide access to credit to our producers and create unique and personalized financial products.
Climate Change Mitigation Program
Proyecto Adapta
Due to the impact of climate change on producer’s crops and lands, Ingemann developed the Adapta Project. Adapta’s objective is to create climate resilience in the honey and cocoa sector; through research and analysis of scientific climatic information.
Adapta benefits more than a thousand producers in Nicaragua thanks to the help of FOMIN, the Multi-lateral Investment Fund, member of the Interamerican Development Bank and its ProAdapt programme, created in association with the Nordic development bank and with contributions of Christhian Aid and Centro Humboldt. ProAdapt is an international programme that identifies and pilots the development of methodologies, tools and innovative business models to help small and medium sized enterprises in Latin America and the Caribbean to increase their climatic resilience and benefit from related business opportunities.
Cocoa Trees Reforestation
Nicaragua is in the top 5 of the most affected countries by climate change. The weather is changing noticeably every year, and the temperature increase has already negatively affected important crops like coffee and honey.
Since we started the project in Nicaragua, more than 1 million cocoa trees have been planted, and we have many more to come. In addition to helping farmers make a better living, the fine cocoa sector in Nicaragua is contributing to the mitigation of climate change.
Cocoa has a great future in the country:
All the areas that used to be good for producing coffee will slowly turn into areas that produce cocoa as the temperatures increase.
We are actively committed to supporting the social, environmental and economic development of the country.
We are committed to align our strategies and operations with the universal principles of the United Nations Global Compact.
To create real sustainability in the cocoa sector
We Partner with
