Premium tree-to-bar chocolate producer, Auro Chocolate is known in the Philippines for being a strong supporter for local farmers. It paid almost 10% higher in price of cocoa beans in 2023 acknowledging that there is a global shortage of the commodity.
Auro bought 161.83 metric tons of cacao valued at Pesos 23.68 million (US$430,000) in the last cropping season, a dip from the previous season’s 169 metric tons as farmers faced difficulties in cultivation due to extreme weather conditions.
Auro remained as one of the highest payers of cacao in Mindanao as it offered prices above prevailing commodity prices. The firm said its buying price was 10-45% above local cacao farmgate prices. A company spokesperson said, “This is to reward our partner farmers for the high quality and sustainably sourced cacao beans they produce.”
In terms of manufacturing cost for chocolate, Auro said that 46% of its total costs went to farmers while the remaining 54% went to post-harvest process, storage and logistics as well as chocolate production itself.
In the previous cropping season, Auro partnered with 3 cacao producing organizations, one agricultural development partner and 60 smallholder farmers representing more than 2,000 families and around 600 hectares of farmland.
Meanwhile, Auro also plans to establish its own cacao farm in the future to boost its supply of cacao beans and generate employment in local communities.
