Community
As a global producer in the food industry, we are committed to guaranteeing the sustainability of our business, with regards to both the environmental and the social aspects of our activities. This is why we have taken a comprehensive and result-oriented sustainability approach.
Our objectives
- To be sensitive to and respectful of local customs and cultures in all our business practices
- To support local communities and organisations in countries where we are implanted to develop the local community welfare, with a focus on education and with a link to bakery, patisserie and/or chocolate activities
- To fight hunger by supporting research to optimize local food sources, improve dietary quality and reduce food waste
Some examples
- Since early 2004, our range of Belcolade origin chocolates from Costa Rica has been made using cocoa that has been sourced from a Rainforest Alliance certified farm in Costa Rica. This certification helps farmers to produce better quality cocoa, to achieve better prices for their cocoa, and improve the quality of their products, through more efficient farm management. Workers on certified farms benefit also from a good salary, a home for their family, clean water and sanitation and a safe environment.
- Since 2007, our Belcolade Dominican Republic Organic chocolate is also available in a Fairtrade approved version mostly in combination with organic growing, made with certified ingredients, containing also Fairtrade sugar, lecithin and vanilla. The Fairtrade label guarantees that the producer is paid a price that covers the cost of production, plus a premium that can be invested back into the community on healthcare, education and housing.
- In 2006, we were invited by Trias, a Belgian NGO, to cooperate on a project in the Democratic Republic of Congo to revitalise cocoa growing as cash crop. The purpose was to generate better income enabling local families to improve living conditions and education possibilities. In the past years, Belcolade supported training sessions by an agronomist to improve sustainable farming and post-harvest techniques.
- In 2008, we invested in a plantation of more than 200 hectares in the Merida region of the Yucatan, Mexico, between the two historical Maya sites of Labna and Xlapak. At the entrance of the plantation, an eco museum was built. As well as providing education about the traditional life of the Mayan people and the importance of the cocoa plant, both then and now, the eco museum has a social aspect. In an area where there is very little work, the project will provide employment for some 15 to 20 locals (both in the museum and on the plantation).