Note: This post is authored by Nico Schiller, Corporate Affairs Manager at Mars Chocolate Germany
Birds twittering in the rainforest, the steady chirp of cicadas. We are on a press trip...
The following post is authored by Alastair Child, Mars Global Chocolate Cocoa Sustainability Director.
Today’s...
The following blog post is from Hussin Purung, Mars Cocoa Sustainability Field Manager in Indonesia.
The West African cocoa industry is at a crossroads. Two million cocoa...
We announced our intention to map the cocoa genome in 2008 and were very excited to finish the project almost 3 years ahead...
Having just returned from a trip to Cote d’Ivoire to check in on our sustainability efforts there, I’m struck by the difference from my last visit. I was last in Cote d’Ivoire in 2010 when we signed the Memorandum of Understanding (click
Efforts to increase collaboration between cocoa producers, international traders, partner organizations and policy makers took a major step forward during the second annual Africa Fairtrade Conventionin Accra, Ghana on...
Every now and then in cocoa sustainability work it’s very useful to take stock of where we are on a particular topic, share ideas and put experts together. At the end of last year we did this for the areas of cocoa soils and use of fertilizer in cocoa production. We started...
On Sunday, February 26th, I participated in a panel on sustainable sourcing at Harvard Business School’s (HBS) Social Enterprise 2012 conference. Moderated by HBS professor Christopher...
The Regional Cocoa Breeders Group is a collaboration of regional Asia/Pacific cocoa breeders in Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea and India. The group meets to address improving planting materials for cocoa farmers. A majority of collaborators are...
As you may have seen, we announced today that Mars Chocolate met its 2011 benchmark of purchasing 10 percent certified sustainable cocoa – or approximately 30,000 tons – as part of its total supply. In two short years, we have made dramatic progress towards reaching our...
Traveling to cocoa growing communities around the world has long been an important part of my job, and though it involves a lot of time in airplanes throughout the year, there’s just no substitute for seeing our projects in person and meeting the people involved.
On Sunday,...
The following blog post is from Hussin Purung, Mars Cocoa Sustainability Field Manager in Indonesia.
The West African cocoa industry is at a crossroads. Two million cocoa farmers are cultivating six million hectares of cocoa – most of which is on aging, declining farm land. With no new land available for new farms, the African cocoa industry must rehabilitate current … Read more
The following post is authored by Alastair Child, Mars Global Chocolate Cocoa Sustainability Director.
Today’s announcement of Mars Chocolate’s first Fairtrade product marks an important milestone in our mission to deliver better tools and opportunities to farmers so they can grow more productive crops and build vibrant, sustainable livelihoods.
More than two years in the making, our agreement with Fairtrade International is part of our … Read more
When the London M&MS® World store hosted a champion Ghanaian cocoa farmer, both ends of the supply chain met for a successful connection.
Samuel Awuni stood in the middle of London’s M&M’S® World store—nearly 4,200 miles from the fields of his Ghana cocoa farm—in complete awe. Surrounded by shoppers reveling in five stories of brightly colored candies and merchandise, Samuel had never … Read more
Note: This post is authored by Nico Schiller, Corporate Affairs Manager at Mars Chocolate Germany
Birds twittering in the rainforest, the steady chirp of cicadas. We are on a press trip to Ghana initiated by UTZ CERTIFIED and Mars Chocolate Germany to visit cocoa plantations. Sitting near the village of Gyankokrom in the middle of a … Read more
Visit to Ghana – Meeting tomorrow’s cocoa farmers
Note: This post is authored by Nico Schiller, Corporate Affairs Manager at Mars Chocolate Germany
During a press trip to Ghana hosted by Mars Chocolate Germany and UTZ CERTIFIED – one of the largest sustainability programs in the world – we offered journalists a field visit to the cocoa plantations. Ghana, the second largest cocoa producing country, … Read more
Cocoa genetic resources are kind of taken for granted in the cocoa world. Genetic resources include the wild, uncultivated, and uncollected varieties of cocoa still growing in the Amazon and Orinoco river basins, the original home of cocoa as well as the large collections of cocoa varieties which have been collected and are maintained in Trinidad (ICG,T) and Costa Rica (CATIE). These relatively uncharacterised varieties … Read more
Mars has partnered with IBM and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on the sequencing of the cocoa genome and as a result IBM featured our strong partnership during their 100 year anniversary celebration.
On Thursday, June 16th IBM released a short film directed by an Academy Award winning director Davis Guggenheim called “Wild Ducks.” Following the theme of making the world a better place, … Read more
Cocoa (Cacao) fermentation is critical to develop the precursors for cocoa flavour, brought out when the beans are roasted. Duing the process, there is lots of microbial activity, the pulp surrounding the beans drains away, acid is generated, the fermentation heap gets warm and the cocoa beans begin to germinate but are stopped by the acidity and heat. Fermented beans are no longer viable as … Read more
Lots of people ask about cocoa bean fermentation, what is it and why is it necessary…. In short, fermentation is a very complex process, involving microbial activity acting on the cocoa pulp, changes in the internal cell structure and chemistry of the bean, and changes in the internal colour of the bean. The temperature and acidity generated in fermentation kills the cocoa bean, and the … Read more
This is a copy of the leaflet handed out at the Chelsea Flower Show, from the University of Reading’s award winning exhibition on cocoa. Its a summary of the research supported by Mars and others at Reading on germplasm movement, climate change effects, physiology and managing pests and diseases.
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