To address the urgent need for a standardized system and a common to facilitate communication among producers, buyers, manufacturers and consumers, an informal Working Group was set up in September 2015 during the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) Annual Seminar on Cocoa in the Americas. The Cocoa of Excellence Programme was asked to coordinate this Working Group with the aim to explore the development of international standards for assessing cocoa quality and flavour. The membership of the Working Group was increased in September 2017 and again in November 2018 with the aim to be inclusive and ensure that final products are available as global public goods to all the stakeholders of the cocoa value chain. The Working Group was formalised at the meeting in Paris in 2018 with the coordination of The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT. 

The current members of the Working Group represent stakeholders from cocoa producers’ associations, traders, chocolate manufacturers and research organizations.