Helping cacao producers in Colombia understand the opportunities and risks of selling to the U.S. market

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Rios de Chocolate is a cacao association comprised of 185 families, located in Santander, Colombia. These families do not have a common buyer and therefore sell individually. Their goal is to obtain a homogeneous fermentation of their cacao beans to be able to export their products together. Currently, they produce fine flavor cocoa, dry cocoa beans, chocolate liquor and chocolate. In June 2020 they requested a F2F volunteer to help them understand the opportunities and risks of selling to the U.S. market.

Sharath Patil, a lawyer and supply chain management specialist with extensive experience in international trade, was the chosen volunteer. He started working remotely with Rios de Chocolate in late July and met with them virtually ten times. During the assignment, Sharath trained them on topics such as: 
  • Understanding the U.S.-Colombia Trade Relationship
  • The U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement
  • Trade Flows and Market Access
  • U.S. Destinations of Colombian Cocoa Exports
  • Value of U.S. Imports of Cacao Beans from Colombia
  • Barriers to Entry
  • General or Product-Specific Quotas
  • Rules of Origin
  • Quality Conditions
  • Packaging and Labelling Standards
  • Required Documents
  • Export Subsidies
  • Product Classifications
  • FDA Inspections

By the end of his assignment, Sharath will provide them with a list of potential clients in the U.S. and with useful guidelines and templates for when they contact them. Thanks to Sharath’s hard work, Rios de Chocolate now has a very realistic idea of the advantages and barriers they face when exporting their products, and are better prepared to contact and develop working relationships with buyers in the U.S.

This is what Sharath had to say about his assignment: “I greatly enjoyed the virtual component of my Farmer-to-Farmer assignment in Colombia. I’m an attorney focused on international trade and customs law and had a meaningful opportunity to use my relevant skillset to assist a cacao cooperative in Colombia, Rios de Chocolate. During this experience, the cooperative and I explored export opportunities in the United States. Together, we studied how to overcome legal and market barriers to entry and identified the next steps in the export process. 

Although I presented my partners in Colombia with a great deal of information during our conversations, I have learned much more myself and I am thankful for the experiences. I look forward to visiting the cooperative in-person when it is safe to do so and continuing our partnership."

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