2023 in review

2023 has been a banner year for cocoa and for COOKO. Prices have soared to near 50-year high, global production has faced several setbacks, lawsuits have hit some of the major retailers and the Europeans are gearing-up for a new series of regulations helping combat deforestation around the world.?

For COOKO, we have spent the year ensuring that our solution is as impactful as it is innovative. In December 2022 we decided to double down on our research and development facility in Ntui. By 26 January 2023 we were receiving the first cocoa from Farmers.

In 2022, worked together with partners in C?te d’Ivoire and Costa Rica, to conduct short-term, but very targeted tests. Running a 6 week trial does not however compare to the intensity and challenges of sustaining production at a live facility, 24/7 365.

We had the benefit of “building the plane while taking off.” The discipline of “prototype and iterate” means we could test every new process and resource innovation at a smaller scale, before implementing it across our operations.

For one, fermentation does not sleep or take weekends off. If you want to understand the intricacies of running a fermentation centre, you need to understand the dependencies and impacts of every step. Staffing plans for weekends and public holidays is just the beginning. What we learned is that any way of controlling and extending the fermentation process gives much needed breathing room to process managers.?

For most of the year our SOP was a WIP. Do we use bags or barrels? Do you buy Kilograms or Litres? Do you have a fixed number of fermentation days to optimise the process or do you vary the number of days to optimise the cocoa quality?

These were all questions that had been asked many times by people in the cocoa industry, but to our knowledge by no one in Cameroon and certainly by no one at the same time.

What emerged was a quiet revolution in operational efficiency.?

In February and March we started noticing that farmers were selling more regularly than they used to. By shifting the labour for fermentation and drying off the farm, the farmers could return to their trees and convert far more cocoa into cash.

In April we published “Unintended Consequences” together with Bristol University. This document quickly gained interest and joined the library of resources for GISCO. In August we were asked to discuss the implications at the ANUGA conference at a joint Palm oil and Cocoa working session.

Between June and August we moved into our new offices and refurbished our site in Cameroon to prepare for the 2023 main season.?

Nonetheless we crammed everyone in during our strategy sessions in June and September.

The big addition at our R&D facility was the quality lab and storage.

From the get-go our plant has served as a modular template for replication. Deep and the team worked on sourcing locally available materials and crafts to ensure our customers would be able to get up and running with their facilities in the challenging African heartlands.

In October, as much of the world was planning their Halloween costumes, John Oliver gave us a deep dive into the chocolate industry on Last Week Tonight. In it he discussed some of the issues with sustainability, traceability and child labor which still plague the cocoa supply chain. COOKO is not designed to directly combat these issues. However, because we relieve many of the economic drivers that underpin deforestation, child labor and slavery we can have an impact on these and help farmers convert more beans to cash.?

In December the team went down to C?te d’Ivoire to scope out a new project to begin in 2024. While there we uncovered a tremendous gap in the production as heavy rains, drought, disease and wastage have impacted this year’s harvest. Alongside this we sold 20 tonnes of cocoa from our facility in Cameroon, making it a solid year for COOKO.?

Looking forward we are primed to announce a number of exciting projects in the new year. As a sneak peak, here is the meeting we had with two of the leading coops in C?te d’Ivoire on 17 December in Abengourou. They are currently getting set up to install the first COOKO post-harvest station in C?te d’Ivoire.

COOKO will also begin raising funds in a late-seed round starting early next year. For more information on our innovative solution, our technology, our methodology or our funding round please visit our website www.cooko.co or reach out to us directly at [email protected].

The year in review would not be complete without a list of thank you’s:

1. First and foremost, thank you to the farmers and community around Ntui. Your early trust and faith in a new future for cocoa provided the foundation in which to test many new and risky ideas.
2. Thanks to the COOKO team. 2023 has tested your tenacity and grit. In particular we’d like to single out our employee nr. 1 Deep Parsana . After spending? two and a half years in the field building fermentation centres and overseeing tough pilot projects in the field he finally took a much deserved holiday this December. Deep lives the spirit of COOKO. Besong-Ayim Mbitah Besong, B.Sc, ACCA brought the commercial foundation and rigour to our Cameroon operations to enable a full year of live testing. Herbert Njume mpako constantly represents the voice of the farmer and keeps us close to the ground. Ngabe Cyril Timme , Ismael, Jude Mua , Paul Besong and Collins Mesape , you are the day to day backbone that keeps us going. Rahel Manga. ACCA and Tankoh Melvis , you have been the glue and motivation to keep Cameroon on track. @Epanty MBANDA has been an invaluable resource to keep the complex tax and legal challenges of operating in West Africa in check! Internationally it has been just as much an honour to welcome Dr. Silke Elwers to the COOKO family. Her extensive experience and understanding has elevated much of what we are capable of. Bianca R?hrig has refined and sharpened our recruitment process to strengthen the team both before and after joining COOKO. Jorina Bruwer ’s experience as a showrunner has turned the drama of operations into an epic tale of achievement. Shaun Nicholls is the detail focus and professionalism that sets us apart. Bonolo Mokoatsi brings the spirit of Spock alive in the way we now understand data and traceability deployment. Verena W. and Dr. Michael Rolle have been quietly helping in the background to sharpen our financial and commercial focus. And last but not least, thank you Adam Jagich for taking the leap from Cargill to COOKO to bring our partners closer and to help shape the next chapter. For everyone who wonders where the glorious texture and subtle aesthetic of the COOKO identity comes from, thanks Chenette Swanepoel for being our visual north star!
3. Thank you to ONCC/NCCB Cameroun and in particular Michael Ndoping for the continued faith you had in our vision. Understanding the need for a live testing facility and providing the scope for us to experiment has been invaluable.
4. Thanks to IDH for the opportunity to play such a central role in shaping the debate about traceability.
5. Sonia Lehmann and the Pro-planteurs team, thanks for paving the way towards impact in C?te d’Ivoire. We look forward to a very exciting 2024 with you and the team.
6. Nyugab Norris and the Flutterwave team, your service has been invaluable to bringing money to farmer’s pocket more quickly and effortlessly.
7. Maik Winter is by far the most under-appreciated unsung hero at COOKO. Bookkeeping and accounting is one of the most crucial functions in keeping a start-up afloat. We are very lucky to have you at our side since 2 years.
8. Lieor Koblenz and Dr. Clemens Maschke have been very busy this year as we converted loans to equity and streamlined our cap table. Dentons in Deutschland has been an exceptional pillar of support.
9. Christian Robin , Sophie Thérèse Tüllmann , Beate Weiskopf , Laure Grégoire , Charles Snoeck , Ulrike Joras , Jack Steijn , Annalena Podzun , Johanna Colley thanks for making the collaboration with the various ISCOs such a pleasure. Martina Gaebler , we look forward to continuing the close working relationship with the Forum Nachhaltiger Kakao under your leadership.
10. Katharina Elisa Davids and the Seedtrace team. It has been wonderful to meet a team who share our values and vision for changing the industry for good. We look forward to playing together even more in 2024.
11. Similarly, thank you to the NGO community with Friedel Huetz-Adams , Antonie C. Fountain , Dr. Christiane Hellar and Evelyn Bahn who have been so supportive in getting COOKO to the attention of key decision makers and change makers.?
12. david sjunnesson son and the NEEEU Spaces GmbH team, especially Javier Soto Morras and @Miki, you have elevated our service design and physical prototyping to a level that meets the challenges of scale and road tested “Africa.”
13. A special thanks to the souls who joined and left COOKO this year. Maram Ismail we are privileged to have been a stepping stone towards the promise and success you’ll achieve as a City planner. Luiz Senko your gutsy and fearless spirit of adventure opened so many ideas and insights for us. Jasmine Pfaff , your experience and focus was such a tonic at the moment we went into production. Seth White , thanks for the structure and clarity you brought to our data schema.?Neha, we look forward to when our paths cross again. Amy Shelver you have been an inspiration. Diana Gavozdea your thorough guidance on international finance set the tone for 2023! And most inspirationally Amy Shelver , your perspective and passion brought the COOKO family to life!
14. Lyrichia Van Zyl thanks for your excellent recruitment support. Kirsty Fourie and the travel concierge team, you have made our life so much easier. As has Servisum GmbH by organising the visas for a global team.
15. Thanks to our active and supportive investors. In particular, thanks for providing the runway to make such an impact in so many lives.
16. And most importantly, thanks to all the quiet voices and in confidence conversations that do not like being called out on LinkedIn or social media. We value your commitment to real change, tough work and getting things done!