Barry Callebaut breaks ground at its first Center of Cocoa Excellence in West Africa

摘要

Barry Callebaut, the world's leading manufacturer of high-quality cocoa and chocolate products, has announced it is establishing a CHF1 million (EUR 833,000/ USD 1.05 million) Center of Cocoa Excellence to promote advanced agricultural techniques in C6te d'lvoire, the world's largest cocoa producing country. The Center will include training facilities for farmers and a 30-hectare "showcase farm" to demonstrate state-of-the-art intercropping techniques and other yield enhancement practices such as grafting to rejuvenate aging cocoa farms and double farm productivity. The Center of Cocoa Excellence will be situated in Pacobo in the Department of Tiassale in the south-central cocoa growing area of Cote d'lvoire. A cornerstone of Barry Callebaut's "Cocoa Horizons" global sustainability initiative, the Center is scheduled to be operational from October 2012.