Better Life
Best management practices taught to the farmers by the association, have enormous positive impact on their “living wage”. For our Ghanaian farmers the average margins have increased about 450% since 2008 (including extra labour and input cost).
Sustainable cocoa
Average cocoa yield of farmers before joining Abrabopa was 279 kg/ha (2008/09). Our association members realized an average sustainable yield of 1212 kg/ha in the first year (2009/10) and an average yield of 1570 kg/ha during harvest 2010/11, according to TechnoServe surveys.
Ascot
Ascot Amsterdam BV was established in 2012 and is the dedicated sales office of the ‘cocoa for a better life’ – associations in West Africa. In words ‘Ascot’ stands for Associated Cocoa Trading. In philosophy it stands for empowerment of farmers’ organizations by forward and sustainable integration in the cocoa chain. In commitment our associations have a 44% stake in Ascot.
Ascot stands for quality conventional cocoa, certified by UTZ and Rain Forrest Alliance (RFA) produced through our unique ‘cocoa for a better life’ – model. This model is based upon proper training and education provided by our associations enabling each farmer to strike better deals for a better product. Cocoa Abrabopa Association (CAA, 2008 Ghana) and Cocoa Lela (CL, 2011 Liberia) both meaning ‘cocoa for a better life’, in their respective home countries currently represent a total of 21.500 farmers and growing fast! Due to its success the ‘cocoa for a better life’ – model is on the brink of expanding to neighboring countries such as Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Sierra Leone.
We are able to offer our cocoa on every INCO-term basis conceivable as well as on a spot, stock or forward basis and on an outright price or differential basis. Due to our extensive network we are in the position to offer conventional and certified cocoa beans and products from various other origins. We kindly invite every customer or potential buyer to visit our associations on location in West-Africa.
