Sustainable and responsible cocoa sourcing
Cocoa issue overview
Côte d'Ivoire and West Africa
Vietnam
Indonesia
Brazil
Vietnam
Although cocoa has been grown in Vietnam for some years, the country has only recently invested in the development of its cocoa industry as part of its attempts to diversify its range of crops.
We have been working to help build and develop a sustainable cocoa industry by contributing to the establishment of Vietnamese cocoa standards, to the selection of cocoa for planting initiatives, and to the formation of a traceable cocoa supply chain to help manage the quality of cocoa. In less than a decade, we have helped improve the livelihood of hundreds of Vietnamese cocoa farmers
Cargill, with the contribution and participation of our employees, has been supporting programs in Vietnam over the past 10 years to provide facilities for local communities, and we are continuing to invest in activities that make a positive difference.
• Farmer training and support – we are providing support and expertise to local farmers to help promote best practices in cocoa growing. More than 3,000 farmers have benefited to date from Cargill's quality training sessions, which are enabling farmers to learn best practice techniques for cocoa growing, harvesting and new fermentation technologies to help them produce high-quality cocoa beans for the international market. We are also providing farmers with access to fertilizers to support their farming operations.
• Developing a buying network – we are supporting the development of a traceable supply chain in Vietnam, which helps manage the quality of the cocoa beans from farmers through to exporters and processors. We have established two buying stations, and have plans to open an additional two stations, within the cocoa growing areas to provide farmers with better market access for their crop.
• Schools and education – Cargill is providing funding and support to build new schools in the local communities where we operate. These schools in remote and poor areas make it safer and easier for children to gain schooling. For example, we built a new school for over 200 children in the Tan Hung- Long An province where annual flooding lasting four months previously made school attendance very difficult. Additionally we are also providing teaching materials and scholarships.