Krakakoa collaborates with Bank DBS Indonesia to introduce five ways to rejuvenate Indonesia’s chocolate industry | Bahasa

Krakakoa has built a chocolate factory and trains cacao farmers to address industry challenge

Bank DBS Indonesia supports Krakakoa in realizing a sustainable chocolate industry through the Green Savings account and has produced 20,250 cacao seedlings for cacao farmers

Indonesia, 10 Oct 2022 - Cacao is one of Indonesia’s key commodities and one of the biggest foreign exchange earners besides oil and gas, with an export value of more than 1.2 billion USD and a total export volume of more than 700,000 tonnes in 2020. Not many people know that Indonesia relies on farmers who manage smallholder plantations for 99% of its cacao production. In reality, cacao farmers face various challenges, including a lack of legal entity and adequate farming equipment as well as adequate good farming techniques. In addition, Indonesia still relies on exports of raw cacao products, which means they have no added value and do not absorb a lot of labor.

To address the above issues, Krakakoa Founder & CEO Sabrina Moestopo said, “Although Indonesia is one of the world’s largest cacao producers, a Worldatlas.com survey revealed that we still have complex challenges in increasing production, creating a new generation of farmers, and building sustainable cacao plantations. Notwithstanding the challenges, we are grateful that the cacao industry is receiving more attention from the public, the government, and assistance from various parties. As a social entrepreneur that focuses on the development of the chocolate industry and the welfare of farmers, Krakakoa collaborates with Bank DBS Indonesia, which shares a similar vision for building a positive impact on the food industry. Krakakoa’s concrete action by collaborating with Bank DBS Indonesia through the Green Savings account aims at encouraging people to contribute to efforts to improve the quality and quantity of the chocolate industry, improving the welfare of farmers, and maintaining a balanced cacao plantation ecosystem in Indonesia.”

Krakakoa has been supporting cacao farmers since 2013 as part of its commitment to giving a positive impact on production systems that affect people and the earth, starting with cacao. Krakakoa offers solutions to the social and environmental challenges of the cacao industry. Below are some of Krakakoa’s achievements in helping cacao farmers and improving their welfare:

Training

Many cacao farmers are still using traditional farming methods, resulting in low yields and low-quality crops. Furthermore, farmers also lack sufficient understanding of how to control pests that damage their plantations. To tackle the problems, Krakakoa holds training to provide an understanding of the proper farming methods to maximize cacao production and develop sustainable cocoa plantations.

Farming Tools

Krakakoa also provides post-harvest equipment, including solar dryers for drying yields and fermentation boxes for fermenting cacao beans. This demonstrates Krakakoa’s concrete action to help farmers produce more, better quality cacao beans at a rapid rate.

Buying Cocoa Beans at Three Times Higher than the Market Price

While focusing on helping farmers produce high-quality cacao beans, Krakakoa also helps improve their welfare by purchasing cacao beans at three times higher than the market price, with a price gap of IDR26,000/kg. This will not only increase the income of cacao farmers but also ensures that Krakakoa can maintain high-quality cacao bean stock in the long run.

Building a Chocolate Factory in Lampung

Krakaoa has built a factory in Lampung to process the cacao beans obtained from farmers to increase the sale value of the product. The factory provides more job opportunities for people living near the area of its operation and supports the development of Indonesia’s creative economy.

Invites More People to Contribute through the Green Savings Accounts

Public contribution will speed up the process to improve the cacao production system. Therefore, Krakakoa joined the Green Savings account initiated by Bank DBS Indonesia. By opening a Green Savings account, people can automatically support sustainable cacao plantations without wasting time and incurring additional costs. In its first year, the Green Savings account has donated 20,250 seedlings that will be productive for up to 15 years without the need to open new land, thus increasing the sale value by threefold. The donation has helped 20% of the cacao farmers supported by Krakakoa.

“As a purpose-driven bank, Bank DBS Indonesia through DBS Foundation continues to support the development of social entrepreneurs in Indonesia, including Krakakoa, which seeks to solve social and environmental problems in the cacao industry by creating more positive impacts. Apart from the Green Savings account, we provide a series of other programmes, ranging from mentoring sessions to grants, as a manifestation of one of the sustainability pillars of Bank DBS Indonesia, namely Impact Beyond Banking. It brings joy to us when the support we provide can generate a real impact and help Krakakoa expand its positive impact in Indonesia’s cacao industry,” said Head of Group Strategic Marketing & Communications PT Bank DBS Indonesia, Mona Monika.

Bank DBS Indonesia continues to support the growth and development of social entrepreneurs to strengthen economic growth while at the same time addressing various challenges and social issues in Indonesia. Through these efforts, Bank DBS Indonesia hopes to create a better world. Bank DBS Indonesia provides social entrepreneurs with access to diverse bank resources, including skills training and capacity building, uncover opportunities to build networks and business opportunities, creating, as well as increasing public awareness through various initiatives and channels. This makes Bank DBS Indonesia “More like an eco-warrior, less like a bank”.