Minneapolis, MN—Cargill has launched CocoaWise, a digital portal that can help connect consumers with the cocoa they’re eating, according to a press release.

CocoaWise pulls information from CocoaWise 360, a centralized data platform fed by a suite of digital tools designed to increase transparency and traceability while enhancing cocoa farming practices and community well-being. Some of the tools include:
  • CocoaWise Map: An interactive map that shows the name and locations of the 128 cooperative offices in Côte d’Ivoire, the seven buying stations in Ghana and the 11 buying stations in Cameroon belonging to Cargill’s direct sourcing network.
  • CocoaWise BeanTracker: Cocoa cooperatives use this to physically track the beans they manage back to the individual farm to prevent beans grown in deforested areas from entering the supply chain.
  • CocoaWise ProCoop: A set of tools that support farmer cooperatives sell and manage their cocoa and manage first-mile traceability.
  • CocoaWise Insight: A monitoring and evaluation system through which Cargill tracks progress towards the company’s cocoa sustainability goals. It includes detailed data such as tree density, the cultivation methods used, and replanting activities, along with information about farming families and their communities, including child labor monitoring.
The press release explains that customers can use these tools—and others provided by the CocoaWise system—to access the sustainability data of Cargill’s cocoa supply chain and connect to the communities that grow the cocoa.
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“As one of the world’s leading cocoa and chocolate producers, we sit at the center of the cocoa sector and connect all the players in the value chain, from working hand-in-hand with the farmers to sustainably providing high-quality products to our customers,” said Harold Poelma, President of Cargill’s cocoa & chocolate business, in the press release. “With cutting-edge technologies, like CocoaWise, we are able to strengthen this collaboration and move the industry forward together towards a more transparent and sustainable cocoa supply chain benefiting both farmers and customers.”

“For years, we have been putting technology to work to help the 210,000 farmers in the five countries we purchase our cocoa. This crop year alone, we invested an additional USD $3 million in traceability initiatives that allowed us to bring the data from our supply chain together in more powerful ways and help farmers enhance agricultural practices,” added Taco Terheijden, Sustainability Director for Cargill’s cocoa & chocolate business. “If we want to make sure farmers have a bright future growing sustainable cocoa, we need to make sure consumers believe in it.”