A Divine story: DFID's contribution to a fair trade success
05 November 2007
Chocolate from cocoa produced by a cocoa farmers’ co-operative in Ghana, west Africa, has become a fair trade success story, thanks in part to DFID’s support.
The co-operative - called Kuapa Kokoo - grows the cocoa for the increasingly successful Divine chocolate range. The co-operative’s motto is "pa pa paa" - "best of the best".
And that statement doesn’t just apply to the taste of the chocolate: the fact that Divine is a fair trade product means that the farmers are paid a decent price for the cocoa they grow.
A very good place to start
DFID’s
involvement began in 1992, when we began to give technical and financial support to
the UK-based trading company 
Twin Trading, to help set up the Kuapa
Kokoo co-operative.
Then, in the late 1990s, Kuapa Kokoo - in partnership with Twin Trading, Comic Relief, Christian Aid and the Body Shop - decided to launch its own range of chocolate bars.
In 1999, DFID stepped in to guarantee a £400,000 loan, which set up
the Day Chocolate Company (now called Divine Chocolate Ltd) to market
Chocolate products from cocoa
produced by Ghanaian small-scale farmers.
Shortly afterwards, the Divine
brand was launched.
From farmers to shareholders
DFID’s loan guarantee contained an innovative provision, enabling the farmers to own 33% of shares in the UK company. As a result, they have a say in how Divine is produced and sold, and are entitled to a share of the profits. A fair and guaranteed price is paid to all the co-operative's farmers, in cash and on time.
Shareholding has also increased the farmers' self-esteem, and given them a deeper understanding of the market for chocolate in developed countries. In addition, the co-operative acts as a lobby group for its members and has helped to provide communities with schools and water wells.
Going from strength to strength, Divine recently launched its chocolates in the US. Success in this $13 billion market will mean increased benefits for Ghana's farmers, and further progress in Divine's mission of bringing fairly traded chocolate to more people worldwide.
Key facts
- Ghana is the world's second top cocoa-producing country, producing 600,000 tonnes of cocoa in the 2006/07 crop season.
- The Kuapa Kokoo co-operative is responsible for about 6% of Ghana's cocoa output and nearly 1% of the world's, selling approx 40,000 tonnes of cocoa in 2006 and turning over £20 million in sales, as of 2007.
- Kuapa Kokoo has 45,000 members in 1,200 villages.
- The loan of £400,000 guaranteed by DFID has been fully paid off by the Divine Chocolate Company.
- DFID has also provided a grant (of around £100,000 until the end of 2007) to Twin Trading to monitor and evaluate the programme, and promote fair trade practices within the cooperative.
- With a turnover of £8.9 million in 2006, the Divine Chocolate Company is now showing profit and Kuapa Kokoo has received its first dividend, worth £47,379. Kuapa Kokoo owns about 45% of the company's shares.
- Kuapa also sells to other fair trade buyers in Europe. The Body Shop buys cocoa butter made from Kuapa's cocoa and includes it in 26 products, including its Africa Spa range.
- In 2006, Divine Chocolate Inc. opened in Washington D.C. The farmers of Kuapa Kokoo own one-third of Divine Chocolate in the US. Additional investment is provided by Divine Chocolate Ltd. in the UK, Lutheran World Relief, Oikocredit, and SERRV International.
Links
- Case study: Organic fruit from Ghana: Exports a lifeline for farmers
- Fighting poverty through trade - DFID's commitment to making trade work for the world's poorest countries
- Trade - did you know? Key facts and figures
