The fairest temptation: Organic chocolate made in Africa
Chocolate: who doesn’t like it? Even opening it makes your mouth water: the rustle of the paper, the aroma of the cocoa. How it cracks as you take your first bite, how the chocolate slowly melts on your tongue – it is indulgence at its purest. Chocolate has definitely earned its place in our hearts. But you don’t often hear about how difficult it is to produce, or how much everyone involved in the production process gets paid. When you buy a bar of chocolate, around 6 per cent of the amount you pay goes to the growers. Up to 70 per cent goes to those responsible for processing the cocoa beans and turning them into chocolate. The rest goes to the shop.
For Hendrik Reimers, founder of fairafric, the equation was simple enough: if you want to support local people, part of the production process needs to take place where they are based. This gave him the idea of launching the first chocolate product for the European market to be completely produced in Africa. “Small growers are stuck in poverty. They make their living selling commodities which are frequently tied to global market prices. I wanted to break this spiral,” explains Reimers. In October 2018, the global market price for cocoa beans was around 2,100 dollars per tonne. That’s approximately two dollars per kilogramme. By keeping production local, fairafric has increased revenue to more than 11,000 dollars per tonne. Reimers: “We pay our partners 80 cents per bar of chocolate. We also pay the farmers 600 dollars per tonne. More than anything else, we want to put growers in a position to keep their farms going on a sustainable basis and get higher prices by using organic cultivation methods. We do this by going to them and providing training.”
The idea of keeping procudtion local came to Reimers on a trip he took to Africa in 2013. “When I came back, I started looking into which countries grow the most cacao,” explaines the former software distributor. Africa is dominated by hinterland transport. Only a few countries have direct access to ports. Bremen-born Reimers therefore set about looking for a location which was as close to Europe as possible in order to ensure a quick transport chain.
Reimers found the conditions and the partners he was looking for in Ghana. He uses the Mediterranean West Africa Express service (MWX) to transport his products. “It’s the perfect service for us – it gives us a direct link between Tema and Hamburg, and only takes 15 days,” says the 36-year-old. “This means that we can send additional products quickly whenever demand for chocolate is particularly high, like around Christmas time.” He also uses Quick Quotes to book his containers. “Flexibility is really important to me. We are a small operation, and our transport volumes fluctuate throughout the year. So Quick Quotes is just what I need – it lets me see when there is space for a shipment, and then we can plan our production around that schedule.”
Reimers partnered with Yayra Glover in Ghana. Glover has lived in Switzerland for a long time, giving him valuable know-how about the European chocolate market. The Ghanaian is bringing the farmers in his cooperative up to speed with organic cultivation methods. This is not only more sustainable, but also puts them in a position to demand higher prices. Reimers uses Niche Cocoa Industry Ltd to produce his chocolate. “The company usually produces only semi-finished cacao products, which is the first stage in the process of making chocolate. We are the only company that they make chocolate bars for,” says Reimers. “I wasn’t really an expert in chocolate before, so it was all about learning by doing. But I think we can all be very proud of the end product.”
Production on the first 100,000 bars – of 70 per cent cacao dark chocolate – started in mid-2016 off the back of a Kickstarter campaign, meaning that Reimers collected the money in advance through crowdfunding. Today, the company produces seven varieties, including some fancier flavours like milk chocolate with cocoa nibs or fleur de sel. “Our first few bars took up about two pallets and looked a little lost in the 40-foot reefer container,” remembers Reimers.
In addition to guaranteeing fair production and working conditions, fairafric is also dedicated to sustainability. “One of the main challenges in our communication was justifying the additional energy required to transport the chocolate in reefer containers,” explains Reimers. “We were certified by NatureOffice this year to compensate for this energy consumption and the other CO² emissions throughout our production and transport chain. Our chocolate has been certified ‘carbon neutral’ since then.” NatureOffice measured the CO² footprint of the entire transport chain and compensates for it by supporting an environmental protection project. Even two projects, as in the case of fairafric – one in Ghana, and another in neighbouring Togo.
“It all started as a little project, but it never stops growing – fairafric pays growers fairly and provides them with opportunities. By partnering together with local providers, we protect jobs which allow people to live comfortable lives,” says Reimers. “That’s what motivates me in addition to chocolate. I can definitely imagine expanding into other food industries like tea or coffee in future and applying the same principles.”
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