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Sustainable
Certified Cocoa
Ivory Coast: Building a women led community greenhouse to provide secondary income sources and improved nutrition.
HEALTHY CHOCOLATE,
HEALTHY COMMUNITIES
Our involvement in Cultivate Better™ Cocoa (CBC) is driven by our desire to more directly invest in the farming communities that grow the cocoa used to make our chocolate. Our CBC program supports our direct investment goal while ensuring that all of our investments are consistent with our overall objectives of sustainable, environmentally sensitive and third party-certified cocoa.
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Ivory Coast: Opening ripe, healthy cocoa pods on the farm, a first step in good quality and value.
What is it?
Cultivate Better™ Cocoa allows Rogers’ Chocolates to directly impact the long-term sustainability of our cocoa farmers by supporting investments in the cultivation of high-quality cocoa contributing to healthy families, educated communities, diversified incomes and sustainable practice initiatives.
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A Focused Approach

EMPOWER PROSPERING
FARMERS

Cocoa is the primary source of income in many of the communities we work with. By educating farmers on flavor preservation through the use of better planting material as well as soil health, crop diversification, and good agricultural practices, they are able to create a more valuable product. And by recognizing the value of flavor, farmers can access premium markets and build long-term relationships that improve the financial prosperity of their farms.

INSPIRE THRIVING
COMMUNITIES

Poverty is a key contributor to many of the social challenges experienced throughout the cocoa supply chain. By partnering with local organizations to implement programs focused on women’s empowerment, income diversification, child protection, education, health, and nutrition, we are able to have a positive impact on the farming communities we source our ingredients from.

ENCOURAGE ENVIRONMENTAL PRESERVATION

Providing cocoa farmers with resilience to climate change is key to the long-term sustainability of the cocoa sector. By promoting climate-smart agricultural practices like crop diversification, agroforestry, composting, and the conservation of forests for shade and soil health, we help farmers to create the conditions needed to grow high-quality cocoa, ultimately improving farmers’ incomes and the long-term sustainability of their farms.

How does it work?
We pay a premium for our cocoa. The premium paid is directly invested in programs that focus on child protection, gender equality, nutrition, education, the environment and income generation for our specific farming communities.
Homepage Cultivate Better
Ivory Coast: Farmer Field Schools, hands on training to improve yields and income. 
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Ivory Coast cocoa family, supporting gender equity and opportunity.
Key Characteristics of Cultivate Better Cocoa
  • Supports supply-chain driven change with direct and measurable impacts that are traceable to the farm level.
  • Supports cocoa farming communities through women-led initiatives centered around secondary incomes, health & nutrition.
  • Prioritizes child protection initiatives through integrated community programming including Child Labor Monitoring & Remediation Systems.
  • Preserves the environment and builds climate resilience through agroforestry programs.
  • Directly improves farmer incomes through improved quality, value and productivity.
  • All cocoa farms, cooperatives or farmer groups are Third-party certified by either Fair Trade International, Fair- Trade USA or Rainforest Alliance.
  • CBC cocoa bean and cocoa butter usage and CBC chocolate sales are third-party audited by SCS Global Services.

Supporting Farmers
Growing Communities

Image of Farms in Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast
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COCOA FARM MANAGEMENT
Farm Management improvement activities through Farmer Field Schools, Farmers Coaching, and Farmer Evening Courses.


CHILD LABOR MONITORING & REMEDIATION SYSTEMS
Child protection committees of trained volunteers operate at the community level to identify at-risk children and remediate cases of child labor.


VEGETABLE GREENHOUSES
We’ve partnered with FarmStrong Foundation to support women-run vegetable greenhouses that help generate income during the cocoa off-season.


YOUTH SPORTS PROGRAMS
Inter-community soccer tournaments promote confidence, teamwork, good health, and community spirit.


SHADE TREE NURSERIES
Women-run, community shade tree nurseries provide additional household revenue and support climate change resilience.


ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP
Training on agroforestry systems, reforestation, forest preservation, and protecting local water sources.

Image of Farms in Ghana
Ghana
Image of Farms in Ghana

CHILD LABOR MONITORING & REMEDIATION SYSTEMS.
Child protection committees of trained volunteers operate at the community level to identify at-risk children and remediate cases of child labor.


LIVING INCOME PILOT.
Working with the Sustainable Food Lab to establish secondary income streams that are developed, organized, and managed by women within the community. By planting yams, baking bread, or making soaps these women gain autonomy and bring in important income during the cocoa off-season that can go towards education.


FINE FLAVOR PROJECT.
Grafting high-value cocoa varieties whose unique flavor profiles fetch the highest premiums in Ghana.


AGROFORESTRY AND FARM DIVERSIFICATION.
Farmers are planting local timber species for shade and long-term income as well as papaya, cassava, and plantains that provide shade and climate resilience for young cocoa trees while diversifying and increasing family incomes.

School Children in Ecuador
Ecuador
School Children in Ecuador

FARM RENOVATIONS.
Renovating cocoa farms with grafted, heirloom genetics and innovative, community-produced, natural agri-inputs.


COMMUNITY GARDEN.
Working with schools to plan vegetable gardens to provide nutritional and agricultural training for children plus income opportunities for women.


INCOME GENERATION ACTIVITES.
Creating alternative revenue streams, like honey production, to supplement income during the cocoa off-season.


ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP.
Innovative on-farm training for the community-based production of micro-nutrients, natural insecticides and compost help build soil health and protect local water sources.

IMPORTANT SHIPPING UPDATE: DUE TO HIGH DEMAND AND SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES, WE WILL NOT BE SHIPPING ANY NEW ORDERS UNTIL THE WEEK OF JANUARY 6, 2025. LEARN MORE
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