CECAQ 11

Location: São Tomé

Varietal: Amelonado

Flavour notes: Woody, tropical, spicy, fruity, leather, tobacco.

Description

São Tomé, once known as Chocolate Island, used to be the world’s largest cocoa producer due to its former slavery driven economy. After São Tomé and Princípe declared independence in the seventies, the land from the old cocoa plantations was divided into smallholdings and distributed amongst the local people, who used it to farm. CECAQ 11 was founded by a group of small-scale cocoa farmers in 2009, who saw the benefits of setting up their own cooperative in the southern part of São Tomé and Princípe. Now, the cooperative is flourishing, with 1135 farmers and growing.

By joining the co-operative , farmers are guaranteed a regular buyer, payment throughout the year and they decide collectively how to invest the Fairtrade premium. So far, CECAQ-11 has used the extra funds, amongst other things, to build a daycare centre and nursery, to bring electricity to villages and buy a TV for communal use. The next priorities include better access to water and improving the roads to their still remote communities. The farmers have also trained in better pruning methods, in shade management and in grafting seedlings to combine higher bean quality with higher productivity.

Harvest times: March – May (main harvest), May – February (mid-crop)

Harvest volumes: Coming soon.

Number of farmers: 1135

Hectares farmed: Coming soon.

Farming notes: Due to its rich volcanic soil and location, the island region is well suited for the cultivation of premium cocoa.

Fermentation and drying notes: As the cooperative itself is divided into 20 village associations, each village of 40-60 producers has its own facilities for fermentation, drying, and storage, so the farmers can extract the best from their beans.