Organic Cocoa Production and Export Cooperative
CECAB is São Tomé and Príncipe's largest cocoa-producing cooperative, representing thousands of smallholders who produce and export organic, fair-trade cocoa.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
The Organic Cocoa Production and Export Cooperative, commonly known by its Portuguese acronym CECAB, is a farmer-owned cocoa cooperative in São Tomé and Príncipe. It represents approximately 3,000 cocoa farmers organized through 42 smallholder associations and is described as the country's largest cocoa producer. The cooperative's core activity is the production, aggregation, processing, and export of certified or otherwise marketed organic and fair-trade cocoa. CECAB emerged during a period when São Tomé and Príncipe's historically important cocoa sector was suffering from underinvestment, declining productivity, and environmental pressure. French premium chocolate manufacturer Kaoka began purchasing cocoa from the islands in 2001 and encouraged producers to organize collectively. CECAB was established on 20 July 2004, giving smallholders a common structure for coordinating production, improving quality, negotiating sales, and connecting with international buyers. The cooperative's principal commercial relationship has been with Kaoka, which buys CECAB's organic cocoa for use in premium chocolate products. This relationship places CECAB within a supply chain focused on traceability, organic production, and fair-trade positioning rather than commodity-scale volume alone. Its output is associated with São Tomé and Príncipe's distinctive cocoa-growing heritage and with efforts to preserve rural livelihoods on the islands. CECAB has also participated in rural-development and environmental initiatives. From 2014 to 2016, it worked with Kaoka, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and the Global Environment Facility on a plantation-renovation program. The project sought to increase farm productivity and create alternatives to activities linked to pressure on Obô Natural Park, including hunting, charcoal production, and illegal deforestation. The participating organizations reported positive results from the program. The cooperative has faced operational challenges, including theft from cocoa plantations. In 2018, CECAB president Aureliano Pires said that theft had reduced the quantity and quality of cocoa available for export and had reached an estimated 40 percent of total production. This illustrates the vulnerability of smallholder supply chains, where losses affect both farmer incomes and the consistency of export volumes. CECAB expanded beyond raw-bean exports with the opening of a chocolate factory in Guadalupe, Lobata District, on 20 July 2022. The facility was the third chocolate factory established in São Tomé and Príncipe and the largest built by CECAB. Construction began in 2020, and the project received financing from CECAB and the African Development Bank. The factory was intended to support domestic value addition and the production of finished organic chocolate. Its projected 2023 annual capacity was 10 tonnes. The factory represents a strategic shift from exporting primarily agricultural raw materials toward producing finished goods within São Tomé and Príncipe. For CECAB, this can improve control over processing, create additional local economic activity, and strengthen the country's ability to market chocolate linked to its origin. The cooperative remains principally an agricultural producer and exporter, but its processing investment broadens its role within the cocoa value chain.
History
Cocoa has long been an important agricultural commodity in São Tomé and Príncipe, but the sector weakened toward the end of the twentieth century as plantations suffered from limited investment, declining maintenance, and environmental degradation. These conditions reduced productivity and made it more difficult for individual smallholders to reach export markets with consistent quality. Kaoka, a French premium chocolate manufacturer, began buying cocoa from São Tomé and Príncipe in 2001. The company encouraged producers to cooperate more closely so that they could coordinate operations and improve their ability to supply an international buyer. This process led to the creation of the Organic Cocoa Production and Export Cooperative, known by its Portuguese name, Cooperativa de Produção e Exportação de Cacau Biológico, and by the acronym CECAB, on 20 July 2004. CECAB brought together smallholder producers through local associations. By 2023, its membership was reported at approximately 3,000 farmers in 42 associations. The cooperative became the largest cocoa producer in São Tomé and Príncipe and developed a business centered on organic and fair-trade cocoa. Its main commercial outlet has been Kaoka, which uses the cooperative's cocoa in premium chocolate production. Collective organization gives farmers a means to coordinate harvesting and quality practices, consolidate export volumes, and participate in a more structured relationship with an overseas buyer. The cooperative's development has also been connected to environmental and livelihood objectives. Between 2014 and 2016, CECAB collaborated with Kaoka, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and the Global Environment Facility on a cocoa-plantation renovation program. The initiative sought to restore productive capacity while creating alternatives to activities that could damage protected ecosystems, including hunting, charcoal production, and illegal deforestation in and around Obô Natural Park. The project partners described its results positively, linking cocoa rehabilitation with rural income generation and conservation. CECAB nevertheless operates in a difficult rural environment. Cocoa theft from plantations has affected the volume and quality of beans available for export. In May 2018, CECAB president Aureliano Pires stated that theft-related losses had reached 40 percent of total production. The reported losses show how security problems can undermine a cooperative's supply base and weaken the reliability of an export-oriented agricultural business. A major turning point came with CECAB's move into domestic processing. Construction of a chocolate factory in Guadalupe, in Lobata District, began in 2020. São Toméan Prime Minister Jorge Bom Jesus laid the foundation stone on 25 June 2020. The factory was inaugurated on 20 July 2022, exactly 18 years after the cooperative's establishment. It became the third chocolate factory in the country and the largest facility built by CECAB. The project cost more than 464,000 euros, with 124,000 euros contributed by CECAB and 340,000 euros provided by the African Development Bank. The facility was projected to produce 10 tonnes of chocolate annually in 2023. The factory reflects a broader economic-development ambition: retaining more value within São Tomé and Príncipe by supplementing exports of cocoa beans with finished chocolate. At the inauguration, national officials presented the project as part of a move toward greater economic independence through local transformation and the export of higher-value goods. For CECAB, processing offers a way to extend its role from producer and exporter to manufacturer, while maintaining its identity as a smallholder-based organic cocoa cooperative. CECAB's documented trajectory therefore combines agricultural recovery, international specialty-chocolate trade, conservation-linked rural development, and gradual vertical integration. Its scale remains that of a cooperative rather than a multinational chocolate company, but its membership base and processing investment make it a central institution in São Tomé and Príncipe's cocoa economy.
- 2023
Membership is reported at approximately 3,000 farmers
[1]CECAB's cooperative structure is reported to include around 3,000 farmers belonging to 42 smallholder associations.
- 2022
Guadalupe chocolate factory opens
[1]CECAB inaugurates its chocolate factory on 20 July, expanding into local processing and finished organic chocolate.
- 2020
Chocolate-factory construction begins
[1]Construction starts on CECAB's chocolate factory in Guadalupe, with the foundation stone laid on 25 June.
- 2018
Cocoa theft becomes a major reported loss
[1]CECAB reports that theft from plantations has reduced cocoa quantity and quality, with estimated losses reaching 40 percent of production.
- 2014
Plantation-renovation program begins
[1]CECAB, Kaoka, IFAD, and the Global Environment Facility begin a program to renovate cocoa plantations and support alternatives to environmentally damaging activities.
- 2004
CECAB is established
[1]The Organic Cocoa Production and Export Cooperative is established on 20 July to represent and coordinate smallholder cocoa producers.
- 2001
Kaoka begins buying São Toméan cocoa
[1]French premium chocolate manufacturer Kaoka begins purchasing cocoa from São Tomé and Príncipe and encourages local producers to organize collectively.
Products and positioning
A farmer-owned São Toméan cocoa cooperative positioned around organic and fair-trade production, smallholder inclusion, origin quality, environmental stewardship, and increasing local processing.
Cocoa
Organic cocoa beans
CECAB's core product is organically produced cocoa from smallholder farms in São Tomé and Príncipe. The cooperative aggregates members' harvests and supplies cocoa for export, chiefly to Kaoka in France. Its value proposition combines island origin, smallholder production, organic methods, and fair-trade positioning.
Cocoa
Fair-trade cocoa
CECAB produces and sells cocoa identified with fair-trade practices, linking international buyers with organized smallholder associations. The cooperative model is intended to improve coordination, market access, and the participation of farmers in the export value chain.
Chocolate · 2022
Organic chocolate
Chocolate made at CECAB's Guadalupe factory represents the cooperative's move into finished products. The facility was designed to process São Toméan cocoa locally and was projected to produce 10 tonnes annually in 2023, although detailed product ranges and retail distribution are not specified in the available reference material.
Marketing campaigns
- 2014Cocoa Plantation Renovation and Alternative Livelihoods Program
São Tomé and Príncipe
CECAB worked with Kaoka, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and the Global Environment Facility from 2014 to 2016 to renovate cocoa plantations and support alternatives to hunting, charcoal production, and illegal deforestation connected with pressure on Obô Natural Park.
Outcome. The partner organizations reported favorable results, linking plantation rehabilitation with rural income diversification and environmental protection.
Brand decisions
2022
Launch of Guadalupe chocolate factoryProduct launchBackground
CECAB sought to complement raw-cocoa exports with locally manufactured chocolate and greater domestic value addition.
Action taken
CECAB inaugurated its largest chocolate factory in Guadalupe on 20 July.
Aftermath
The cooperative expanded its offering from exported cocoa to finished organic chocolate, with projected annual production of 10 tonnes in 2023.
Factory funding. CECAB contribution of EUR 124,000 and African Development Bank contribution of EUR 340,000 (2020-2022)
2020
Invest in domestic chocolate manufacturingStrategyBackground
CECAB had historically focused on producing and exporting cocoa, while São Tomé and Príncipe sought to capture more value from its agricultural commodities.
Action taken
The cooperative began constructing a chocolate factory in Guadalupe, with CECAB contributing to the project alongside the African Development Bank.
Aftermath
The factory opened in 2022 and enabled CECAB to move into finished organic chocolate. Its projected annual output for 2023 was 10 tonnes.
Factory construction cost. More than EUR 464,000 invested (2020-2022)
Sources1 sources
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