Conacado Cocoa
Cocoa Camino fair trade certified organic cocoa is sourced from CONACADO, an association of 9,000 small-scale farmers in the Dominican Republic. CONACADO was founded in 1988 as a response to low global cocoa prices, and to assist small-scale cocoa farmers to improve their working and living conditions. Its aim is to generate work and income for disadvantaged groups, to decrease dependency on intermediaries by exporting products directly, and to offer technical assistance and credit to farmers to improve the quality of cocoa production.

Cocoa accounts for 90% of CONACADO farmers’ income, but frequently the income received from the export of their cocoa is below their costs of production. Since 1997, CONACADO has been selling cocoa under Fairtrade certified conditions, which guarantee a fair return for their work. Premiums from these sales have also directly assisted projects to improve production and the quality of their cocoa. CONACADO cocoa is grown using organic techniques under the canopy of other fruit trees that provide extra income and food security for the farmers.

The farmers of CONACADO have seen many benefits brought to their community by the Fairtrade premium. Medical workers have been providing free advice and medicines; a nursery, funded by the Fairtrade premium, is providing the farmers with fruit trees which shade the cocoa plants, and give the farmers an alternative source of nutrition and income; aqueducts and pathways across ditches make it easier to work in fields which are often far from roads. Their message to fair trade shoppers is simple. “We promise to provide you with a good quality of fruit, so long as you promise to keep buying more!”