Cacao of Excellence
Cacao of Excellence works across five strategic areas to drive the expansion of superior quality cacao to ensure that a greater share of producers prosper.
1. A renowned global cacao award competition
Since 2009, Cacao of Excellence has been the entry point for cacao producers to participate in the Cacao of Excellence Awards, the most prestigious global cacao competition that recognises the work of cacao farmers and celebrates the quality and flavour diversity of cacao produced around the world. The programme is a strong advocate for farmer identification and recognition to help drive transparency for a more sustainable cacao value chain.
2. A community for excellence
The programme offers a neutral platform convening the national and international public and private sector around quality differentiation as a means to help improve the livelihoods of cacao farmers and enable the capacity of producing origins to recognize, value, preserve and market their cacao globally. Cacaonet is one such project that brings together a network of national and international public and private value chain actors to optimize the conservation and use of cacao genetic resources. A vast Global Compendium on Cacao Research compiles information on institutions and individual scientists involved in research on all aspects related to cacao production, processing and consumption.
Learn more about the Global Compendium on Cacao Research
3. A driver of cacao innovation
Cacao of Excellence leads research on data-driven innovations that empower actors in cacao value chains and lays the foundation for evidence-based knowledge to catalyse investment in developing cacao quality and diversity across origins. The Cacao of Excellence and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Investment Center project, entitled Market Intelligence for Increasing Cocoa Quality: Scope and opportunities for a competitive, profitable and sustainable cocoa value chain seeks to deliver the evidence and investment rationale for boosting cacao quality and diversity to improve farmer incomes.
4. A hub for learning
Building on 14+ years of experience supporting capacity building and cacao innovation, Cacao of Excellence’s Rome-based Cacao Research and Development Laboratory and Training Centre team puts into practice rigorous cacao processing and chocolate production standards and methodologies developed by Cacao of Excellence, international experts, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Lutheran World Relief/Corus project MOCCA in the 2023 Guide for the Assessment of Cacao Quality and Flavour. The Laboratory is also the site for trainings and seminars for origin producers.
The Cacao of Excellence R&D Laboratory is a receiving site for samples sent from cacao producers across origins, where cacao analyses, processing and chocolate production is conducted for each Award Edition. The Laboratory is also the site for trainings and seminars for origin producers.
5. A protector of cacao biodiversity
Central to the Cacao of Excellence programme is the safeguarding of cacao genetic diversity to ensure long-term health, resilience, quality and diversity of planting materials. Cacaonet is a key knowledge platform that helps cacao breeders access diverse germplasm information to develop new varieties resistant to current and emerging threats from pests, diseases and increasingly, the effects of climate change. Cacao of Excellence recognizes that the protection of genetic diversity also enables the preservation of the unique diversity of flavours diverse genetic varieties can offer consumers.