Sourcing Cocoa

The Cocoa Plan in Venezuela

Together with Ecuador, Venezuela produces about 70% of the world’s fine cocoa. In fact, all Venezuelan grown cocoa is generally considered as fine cocoa. However, the flavours and aromas vary significantly depending on the variety and the region where it’s grown.

Over 20 years ago, together with the local cocoa industry, Nestlé founded an alliance called Aprocao. Today, Aprocao is buying approximately 40% of all cocoa grown in Venezuela. All this volume is bought directly from the small-holder farmers. Since 2007, Aprocao has been running a Farmer Assistance Programme, where participating farmers have seen their average harvest per hectare increase from 250kg to over 600kg.