Choose biodiversity when choosing your chocolate!

COP 15 or Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity is being held in Montreal from December 7 to 19, 2022.

Its ultimate goal is to halt the loss of biodiversity. The loss of biodiversity, less often cited than the accumulation of greenhouse gases, is nevertheless a major issue for our planet. The figures vary depending on the sources, but the extinction of living things would affect 25% to 75% of species within fifty to a hundred years.

Promote sustainable and fair cocoa growing methods

At Umano, we integrate this issue into the choice of our products, our sources of supply and our partners. For example, in the field of cocoa, our supplier, the Kaoka company, has put this issue at the heart of its action. Kaoka offers agroforestry solutions by planting shade trees and alternative crops. For 2019, this represents 240 ha installed and around 30,000 trees.

Their vision integrates the protection of fragile ecosystems, the promotion of agroforestry, reforestation and the guarantee of additional income for producers by perpetuating their culture and environment.

For almost 30 years, Kaoka has sought to reverse the trend of impoverishment of producers and loss of diversity of native cocoa varieties. Indeed, at the global level, the 1980s saw the demand for cocoa increase sharply. During this period, many plantations emerged, still made up of ancestral varieties in the producing countries. But as after around forty years the cocoa tree is less productive, it is replaced by a young shoot. And the current trend consists of replacing old trees, of native varieties, with hybrids, resulting from genetic improvements. Two consequences of this: an impoverishment of flavors and a loss of biodiversity.

Countering this trend, Kaoka provides technical and financial support to producer cooperatives so that they maintain and develop quality cocoa, based on local varieties: Forastero, Nacional in Ecuador, Alemenado in Sao Tome, Hispaniola, Trinitario in the Dominican Republic.

Focus on our couverture chocolates

Sao Tomé 66%: Pure origin São Tomé cocoa of the Amelonado variety.

Nestled in the heart of the Gulf of Guinea, on volcanic soil, the island's cocoa trees offer premium cocoa beans. The specificity of this cocoa is quickly perceptible. The combination of aromas of fresh fruit, dried fruit and spices, combined with the flavors of cocoa and the woody scent, gives this chocolate an extraordinary character. A velvety dark chocolate, chewable with almonds, dried fruits, peanuts…