About the Working Group
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.
ALLIANCE of Bioversity International and CIAT: Brigitte Laliberté - Cocoa of Excellence (CoEx) Programme / CacaoNet - Coordinator of the WG, Italy
AMACACAO/CUNAKakaw: Juan Francisco Mollinedo - Asociación Mesoamericana del Cacao y Chocolate Finos / Guatemala
BARRY CALLEBAUT: Renata Januszewska - Barry Callebaut, Belgium
CRC: Darin Sukha - Cocoa Research Centre, University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago
ECOM: Daniel Domingo - ECOM, USA
FCCI: Carla Martin - Fine Cacao and Chocolate Institute, USA
FCIA: Bill Guyton - Fine Chocolate Industry Association, USA
FCIA/MOCCA: Mey Choy Paz - Fine Chocolate Industry Association, Perú
GUITTARD: John Kehoe - Guittard Chocolate, USA
ICCO: Charlotte Martin - International Cocoa Organization, Côte d'Ivoire
IICCT: Martin Christy - International Institute of Chocolate & Cacao Tasting, UK
LWR: Carolina Aguilar - Lutheran World Relief, USA
LWR: Rick Peyser - Lutheran World Relief, USA
PURATOS/BELCOLADE: Julien Simonis - Puratos/Belcolade, Belgium
SEGUINE/GUITTARD: Ed Seguine - Seguine Cacao, Cocoa and Chocolate/Guittard Chocolate, USA
TCHO: Brad Kintzer - TCHO, USA
UNALM: Nubia Martinez - Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Perú
VALRHONA: Pierre Costet – Valrhona, France
WCF: Herve Bisseleua – World Cocoa Foundation, Ghana