What is the benefit of such a project? Giulia Porrini, a member of the Starkmacher organisation from Italy, sums it up like this: "The fact that representatives from both ends of the supply chain meet and move towards each other is not a matter of course. The producers of cocoa in South America, whom we visited, have the opportunity to get to know the beneficiaries of their work, their end customers, personally. They learn what is important to chocolate customers, what aspects influence their buying decisions. And the consumers as well as the employees in sales and refinement of the raw materials see how much work, care and effort goes into the cultivation, harvesting and processing of the cocoa. That was enormously significant for both sides"
Training in theory and practical experiences
The training in Milan and Perugia included on the one hand elements of knowledge transfer about the production phases and marketing of cocoa, input to the value chain and analyses of the international cocoa market. In addition, there were practical workshops on cocoa processing and chocolate production up to the tasting of consumer products from the wide variety of cocoa products.
Important links between producers, distributors and consumers
Project results are impressive
234 people came into specific contact with the topic through the various project visits. The project produced 6 academic articles, 3 short documentaries, 4 didactic animations and a social enterprise. Concrete results can be found on the project website: creativecacao.com
