Since 2017, the T4SD Programme and Sierra y Selva Exportadora (SSE), have worked together on implementing the “Basic Guidelines for Sustainable Cocoa – LBCS Peru” project in the country’s eight cocoa-producing regions. The LBCS project offers a step-wise approach that brings cocoa producers and their cooperatives on a journey towards improved sustainability by focusing on key social and environmental requirements and serves as a stepping stone toward more demanding sustainability standards. The project beneficiaries profit from tailor-made support measures that allow them to climb the sustainability performance ladder, rather than being excluded by resource-intensive controls and high bars. Sierra y Selva Exportadora, a public business support institution attached to the Ministry of Agriculture, is the main implementer and supporter of the LBCS activities in Peru.

This month, the T4SD team participated, together with a group of experts, in a forum organized by the Export Production Route (Ruta Productiva Exportadora – RPE) and presented the programme’s online tools: Standards Map, Sustainability Map, and the LBCS project. The event was hosted in the San Martin region, located in the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest. T4SD’s presentation focused on raising awareness of the importance of voluntary sustainability standards to access international markets. The event gathered 32 participants, including chocolate entrepreneurs, and representatives from cooperatives and cocoa associations. 44% of participants were women (18), which reflects the increasing presence of women in the cocoa production chain and the chocolate industry.

The participating cocoa cooperatives and their producers included:
1. Association of Producers Sembrando Vida
2. Fascino La Boutique del Chocolate S.A.C.
3. Origin San Antonio S.A.C.
4. Exotic Chocolatier S.A.C.
5. Agricultural Cooperative Nuevo Amanecer LTDA.
6. Agricultural Cooperative ACOPAGRO LTDA.
7. Agricultural Cooperative ALLIMA Cacao LTDA.
8. Amazona Chocolate S.A.C.
9. Amazonian Craft Chocolate Shop S.A.C.
10. Commercial Industrial of Cocoa S.A.C.
11. Monte Azul Agricultural Cooperative
12. Amazonia Organic Products S.A.C.
13. Mishollo Industrial Agricultural Cooperative LTDA.
14. Association of Agricultural Producers Mishki Cacao.

T4SD’s participation in this event aligns with the aim of the public institutions in Peru to foster sustainability and increase market access opportunities, by empowering smallholders with information on sustainability schemes and sustainable market analysis online tools.