The different origins of CEMOI cacao

We take great care sourcing our raw material from the very best possible origins and at the same time we pride ourselves in offering safe structures and long term business to farmers in Cote d’Ivoire, Ecuador, Sao Tome and Vanuatu.

Cote d'Ivoire: back to traditional values

Over the past 20 years the progressive decline in Ivoirian farmers’ savoir-faire has led to a deterioration in the aromatic quality of the cocoa bean.

By means of a partnership with 9 cooperatives, grouping 1450 farmers CEMOI is steadily building up a premium cacao network.

Via this commitment we have built 6 fermentation and drying centres in the heart of the bush land, within close proximity to the plantations.
The first centre in Toliesso, built entirely with local materials, was inaugurated in December 2009.
Thanks to the control of post-harvest treatment parameters and bean traceability, CEMOI’s premium cacao is a quality cacao with developed fruity and cocoa aromas.

And as a part of our sustainable development policy, the farmers adhere to strict specifications that cover a maximum of social and environmental aspects.

The CEMOI Group has also set up a sustainable commitment to forest culture to improve the quality of cocoa beans and production yields with plant nurseries, grafting, cocoa tree pruning, etc.
CEMOI technicians are on hand to assist the local farmers with the techniques of grafting, the selection of local aromatic cocoa varieties, etc.

Ecuador: el cacao nacional

Due to Ecuador’s atypical geographical conditions the country is not heavily industrialised.

Situated in the heart of the Andes Cordillera and home to a unique variety of cacao; the “cacao nacional”.

CEMOI’s organic fair trade network has worked hard in re-building the original cacao quality with plantation selection of only the best beans. These selections revealed two different aromas: the floral cacao and the fruity.

The UNOCACE organisation counts 19 cooperatives and more than 1,800 families and in creating a partnership with CEMOI they have a guaranteed and stable sale price and assistance in research and agronomical techniques.

Sao Tome: the Amelonado variety

Cacao farming in Sao Tome is an affair of small farmers possessing plantations of no more than 2 to 5 hectares.

In association with the Agricultural Development Fund, CEMOI helps local farmer groups to restructure, creates infrastructures necessary for the post-harvest cacao transformation and organises the network process via one of CEMOI’s partnering export cooperatives. The same selection process of the best cacao plantations is at the centre of the Island’s quality improvement strategy. 27 cooperatives make up the CECAB, with 1,100 families of associate farmers.

Want to know more? Sao Tome & Principe, known as the “Chocolate Islands” is one of the smallest states of Africa. The two islands, part of an ancient volcanic range situated off the north western coast of  Gabon have a total surface area of 960Km². Amelonado cacao is grown on both islands, but wasn’t a favourite due to the small size of its beans. Its taste however is extremely sweet and fruity. We make three bars from this origin.