Global Chocolate Supplier, Dengo, Partners with ReSeed for Nature-based Carbon Credits to Drive Transparency to Supply Chain

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Dec 05, 2023, 08:33 ET

A giant opportunity for the Cacao Industry Combines Regenerative Farming, Technology and Social Impact

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ReSeed, a leader in nature-based carbon credit solutions, and Dengo Chocolates, a leading Brazilian chocolate brand committed to ethical sourcing, announced today their groundbreaking partnership, integrating Dengo's cacao farmers in Brazil into ReSeed's Farm Fresh Carbon Credit Program. This marks significant strides in sustainable agriculture and social impact for the cacao industry, while providing companies new avenues to clean supply chains.

The chocolate industry has historically been neither sustainable nor equitable. Chocolate ranks number two on the list of foods with highest environmental impact, with the majority of the impact attributed to deforestation. Meanwhile, the majority of smallholder farmers, responsible for 75% of the world's cocoa, live at or below the poverty line. ReSeed and Dengo will partner with smallholder farmers to create an additional revenue stream, carbon credits, that simultaneously incentivizes environmentally-beneficial regenerative agricultural practices.

Employing regenerative agriculture techniques in cacao farming helps to avoid deforestation, increase soil health and crop yields, and draws down carbon from the atmosphere to store it in the ground. The sale of carbon credits holds the potential to significantly improve the livelihoods of Dengo chocolate farmers, with 50% of carbon credit sales going directly to farmers and 30% to on-the-ground farmer support teams. As more credits are traded in the region, there will no longer be a need for additional deforestation to generate extra income for small farmers and traditional communities.

ReSeed partners with smallholder farmers around the globe, bringing carbon credits directly from farmers to the market. Founded in 2022, ReSeed's carbon credits are the first credits with traceability from beginning to end of lifecycle. Dengo Chocolates, who has a special focus on social impact and sustainability, has so far onboarded 75 farmers with 1,400 hectares of land under management onto ReSeed's Carbon Credit Program at their first partnership period. The farmers will easily be able to track data about the carbon collected and stored in the soil on their land, which ReSeed turns into carbon credits with auditable, third-party verified data and satellite imagery.

By offering carbon credits for sale from cacao farmers, the two companies are creating a giant opportunity for the cacao industry, combining carbon drawdown with social impact. ReSeed carbon credits will create a new revenue stream for Dengo's farmers and monetize climate-positive agriculture practices. The first carbon credits associated with Dengo cacao farmers will be available for sale in H2 2024.

"According to estimates, 70% of 6.800 km2 of cocoa plantations in the region use the Cabruca system, an agroflorestal system in which cacao trees are cultivated under the shadow of Atlantic Forest. A recent study conducted by WRI, Arapyaú Institute and Dengo shows that a hectare of Cabruca removes almost 2 times more CO2 from the atmosphere than a conventional hectare," says Estevan Sartoreli, CEO and co-founder of Dengo Chocolates. "We are proud to partner with ReSeed to drive additional capital to Dengo farmers for their ecosystem services."

"Currently, less than 1% of carbon credits sold on the market are sourced from agriculture. We're thrilled to partner with Dengo farmers to increase that number," said Vasco van Roosmalen, CEO and co-founder of ReSeed. "The direct incentives from the carbon market to smallholder producers could be the push needed to catalyze reforestation and preservation efforts in the Amazon rainforest and Atlantic Forest – helping reduce deforestation rates while also initiating an explosion of reforestation."

The partnership signifies a shared vision for a more sustainable and resilient future, where the cacao industry plays a pivotal role in fostering positive environmental and social change. This collaboration aims to set a new standard for responsible business practices in the agriculture and chocolate industries.

About ReSeed

ReSeed is a nature based services provider, bringing carbon credits directly from smallholder farmers to the market. We fight climate change at scale by financing and incentivizing these farmers to steward carbon through regenerative farming practices. ReSeed is the first company to combine environmental and social impact metrics with traceable carbon credits from farms, bringing to market a data set that increases accountability and fosters clean supply chains. Learn more at https://reseed.farm/

About Dengo Chocolates

Launched in 2017 as a social impact business, Dengo is a Brazilian brand of high-quality cocoa, coffee and chocolate that combines pleasure with purpose. The brand's main commitment is to generate decent income for small and medium-sized cocoa farmers in Brazil. Dengo is an ethical chocolate brand that changes the world, creating irresistible mixtures that combine flavor with health, transforming cocoa farmers into protagonists. Today, there are more than 150 families involved - taking care of all the details, from planning to product, keeping the cycle constant and sustainable, receiving more for the quality cocoa they produce. In 2022, the company expanded its social impact business to the Amazon region, also starting to work with cocoa from Pará and including local producer families in its project. In 2023, Dengo begins its internationalization process with the opening of its first store in Paris.

Media Contact:
Kate Laursen
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SOURCE ReSeed