Chocoa Festival Returns to Amsterdam in its Eighth Edition

The 8th edition of the Netherlands-based chocolate festival, Chocoa, returns between 19-23 February 2020 in Amsterdam.

Covering major issues including industry sustainability, it is set to bring together stakeholders from the entire supply chain, from cocoa farmers to chocolate consumers. Our objective is to increase the market for ‘good cocoa and better chocolate’. Last year’s event hosted 150 stands and 9,000 visitors (of which were 1,500 professionals) during all Chocoa events.

Among the highlights of the five-day programme is its industry conference programme. This includes a major focus on sustainability within core cocoa supply chains.

As the organising team notes, such events often focus on farming, but rarely include producers themselves as a prominent voice in the discussions.

This year’s Chocoa conference will have cocoa producers in every session in order to hear directly from them on the relevant issues in the cocoa supply chain. Every topic will have a representative from Asia, Latin America and Africa. This aspect sets the event apart.

Among the confirmed speakers for this year’s event is Bas Smit, vice president of marketing at Barry Callebaut, Alloysius Attah, of Farmerline, Judy Zwinkels, of Nestle, for a talk-show style discussion session on sustainability topics, Ivory coast farmer, Edith Kouame Ehui, as well as representation from Solidaridad.

For more information on the festival, visit https://www.chocoa.nl/