STORY: Puratos launches initiative to support cocoa farmers

Ingredients expert Puratos has launched an agroforestry project, in partnership with PUR Projet.

The new initiative, part of Cacao-Trace, the company’s sustainable cocoa sourcing programme supporting cocoa smallholder farmers. It also aids Puratos’ efforts to ensure its business operations are carbon neutral by 2025.

The agroforestry project will be implemented in five countries where Puratos sources cocoa; the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Ivory Coast, Vietnam and Mexico – where the Cacao-Trace programme launched last month. It will see Puratos plant 300,000 trees a year until 2023, with planting already underway in the Philippines and Vietnam.

The aim of the project is to create a business model resilient to climate change and improve farmers’ livelihoods.