HIGH POTENTIAL: At Nestlé’s Experimental Farm in Ecuador, agronomists Eduardo Eusebio Pérez Chuez and Luisa Marillac Trujillo examine cocoa plants developed at our R&D centre in Tours, France.

The Union of Farmers' Organisation from Quininde County (UOCAQ) is a cocoa farmer organisation located in the province of Esmeraldas, in the north-west of Ecuador. In 2009, UOCAQ began supplying cocoa directly to Nestlé, helping to secure better prices for the farmers by eliminating middlemen from the traditional supply chain, and guaranteeing Nestlé a supply of higher-quality, traceable cocoa.

In addition, Nestlé Ecuador organised a day when UOCAQ members and their families could receive health check-ups and nutritional advice. During the day, around 70 families from the local cocoa-farming community attended the Nutrimovil stand, took advantage of the free health checks and were given dietary advice for both adults and children.

The main objective of the programme is to make rural cocoa communities more aware of potential health risks and provide guidance on how to eat in a balanced way, reducing the negative impact of poor nutrition on the lives of the farmers and their families.

Nestlé Ecuador continues to organise similar events in other cocoa-growing communities.

The content of this page was externally assured by Bureau Veritas, March 2011.