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The conference will address the challenges posed by climate change and the economic demands of the cocoa market, illustrating how agroforestry, organic, and regenerative production can offer a concrete solution. Three international examples of regenerative cocoa will be presented, showcasing how environmental sustainability and profitability can coexist.
The event will open with greetings from Eduardo Cuoco, Director of IFOAM Organics Europe, and will be moderated by Brigitte Laliberté, with an introduction by Andrea Mecozzi.
Speakers include:
- Leslie Agyare, Founder and Director of the Three Mountains consortium, who has promoted a vast network of agroforestry and organic cocoa farming in Ghana. The initiative has led to the creation of the country’s largest certified organic agroforestry cocoa export center, with zero-impact operations and thousands of tons exported annually. The project actively involves women’s communities and has become one of the most widely used cocoa sources for premium U.S. chocolate companies.
- Sara Agostoni, Purchasing and Sustainability Director at ICAM, will share insights from the company’s 15-year experience in Uganda since the establishment of ICAM Chocolate Uganda, and present an innovative pilot project called Sustainable Farming. She will discuss the many challenges of sustainability in a country where cocoa cultivation is relatively young and where developing the technical and technological know-how to manage regenerative supply chains remains a daily effort. ICAM’s vertically integrated model stands out as one of the few examples globally to have successfully achieved this level of sustainability and traceability.
- Martino Bonato, Manager at Andean Cacao and Founder and Manager of the Colombian consortium Okanta, will present the figures behind the world’s largest regenerative cocoa plantation. Over the past ten years, 4,000 hectares of cocoa have been planted in former cattle ranching lands, leading to the revival of local flora and fauna within a state-of-the-art, fully mechanized production and post-harvest processing facility. He will also outline how the Okanta consortium has made innovation accessible to a network of small Colombian farmers across the Meta, Boyacá, and Casanare regions. This successful model demonstrates yields and productivity levels that can be replicated in other climate-sensitive countries, offering three product categories ranging from cocoa butter to fine aromatic cocoa for tasting.
The debate will include interaction with both in-person and online audiences.
The event, part of Eurochocolate World 2025, is organized by Cacao Solution with the technical support of Trusty and Cacao Latitudes, in partnership with IFOAM OE, Slow Food, and Mani Tese, under the patronage of Regione Umbria and Sviluppumbria.