According to PRONATEC, this is mainly because its new factory is purely organic, and mixing with conventional products can be completely eliminated.
Another factor is the rigorous cocoa bean analysis procedures developed by the company. These enable the company to detect and exclude from the manufacturing process even raw materials with minimal traces of residue with maximum reliability. In the cocoa processing industry, organic and conventional products are usually processed on the same production line, which can lead to mixing and high follow-up costs.
During the first year of production, all PRONATEC Swiss Cocoa Production products underwent extensive testing. The company said an evaluation conducted in September confirmed the benefits of an organic-only production plant.
The company claimed that no pesticide contamination has been detected in the products it processes since production began. This is despite the fact that bean processing has increased by about 80% over the same period. ”The fact that we have never had a single pesticide incident justifies our decision to choose pure organic plants.said David Yersin, CEO and company owner of PRONATEC.There is no mixing with conventional products.Now people can clearly see the benefits in black and white.”
The Swiss family-run company has so far produced around 7,000 tonnes of organic cocoa semi-finished products. PRONATEC also operates a subsidiary in the Dominican Republic and sources most of the cocoa beans it processes there, allowing it to optimize bean quality and prevent mixing with traditional raw materials.
smallholder farmer
The company handles all processes in-house, from sourcing beans from small-scale farmers to fermentation, export, processing and sales of the final product.
”Many processors have a problem where the pesticide analysis of raw materials does not match the analysis of the processed product.” said Samuel Honeyman, Director of Quality Control.Problematic raw materials are not detected reliably and subsequent costs increase significantly if residues are detected only at the semi-finished product stage. PRONATEC has developed a process that produces highly accurate and representative results, which is reflected in higher product quality.”
Starting in 2024, PRONATEC’s cocoa products will also be available with the U.S. Regenerated Organic Certification (ROC) label. ROC uses internationally recognized organic labels as a baseline. From there, mandatory requirements such as soil health, animal welfare and fair conditions for farmers are added.