Farming
India’s cocoa farmers to receive extra help with post-harvest services
The company said that traditionally, India’s cocoa farmers have been excluded from enjoying the benefits of the ever-expanding industry. Demand is continuously rising but the farmer continues to get neglected in this growth, it claimed.
New services in fermentation, drying, storage and marketing areas are being introduced to help Indian cocoa farmers improve their cocoa bean quality via post-harvest improvements.
This in turn helps the ever-growing Indian bean-to-bar chocolate makers access good quality cocoa beans in India, improve the quality of their chocolate and continue to get international recognition.
L Nitin Chordia, India's first certified chocolate taster, said: "This will further help us decrease our reliance on imports of cocoa-chocolate.
"While the government is trying hard to increase the area under cultivation of cocoa in India, this added effort and investment from the farmer would help him increase farmer income and make good quality beans available to the Indian bean to bar chocolate makers.
"We are happy to share our expertise and experience for this cause. This will ensure many more chocolatiers will have access to fine flavour beans and I see this as a win-win situation for the Indian cacao and chocolate industry.”
