Business •
The true cost of cocoa A Belgian chocolate company is pioneering sustainable farming in Ivory Coast ✶ By Sarah Crew
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elgium has long enjoyed a reputation for chocolate, from luxury brands with global recognition to artisan confectioners who never tire of dreaming up new flavours. But behind the sweet finished product is a bitter story of poverty. And nowhere is this truer than in the West African countries of Ivory Coast and Ghana, which between them produce two-thirds of the world’s cocoa. Here, cocoa farmers’ enduring economic hardship results in the immoral and dangerous practice of child labour. At its root is the inequality between the price paid for cocoa beans and the profits made by manufacturers and retailers. That’s why Belgian chocolate maker Thierry Noesen is pioneering a ground-breaking €2 million project in Ivory Coast that will serve as a bridge between farmers and chocolate companies. The KimVas enterprise centres on building a cocoa processing plant that aims “to create a positive global impact for the local population as well as for the planet”.
The bean-to-bar initiative is a collaboration between Noesen’s company, Belvas, and Ivory Coast’s cocoa cooperative union, Ecookim, as well as public and private partners including Belgium’s philanthropic King Baudouin Foundation (KBF). Belvas, based in the Hainaut town of Ghislenghien, is the European leader in fair-trade and organic chocolate; the company has won international awards for its sustainable practices. Founder and director Noesen has long been on a mission to bring about change in his industry. “When I bought a small chocolate factory in 2005, I immediately changed everything to fair-trade, I didn’t even ask the customers,” he recalls. Over the past 15 years, Noesen has become even more aware of the plight of cocoa farmers and their families. When Belvas gained organic certification, he sourced cocoa from Peru, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic. “These countries were ahead of the rest of the world in going organic and they got
“ If the whole industry was fair-trade and I disappeared, that would be a good thing”
Belvas director Thierry Noesen in Daloa, Ivory Coast
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• expat time • summer • 2021
