For several years now, Virunga Origins has been offering fair trade and organic chocolate and coffee, produced from A to Z in the Democratic Republic of Congo, on the outskirts of the famous, eponymous park. The brand is also part of an ambitious socio-economic project to develop and pacify this lush region, which has been plagued by poverty and violence.
While Virunga National Park prepares to celebrate its 100th anniversary next year, its hosting region, on the borders of the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda, has probably rarely been beset by such military and political instability. Over the last 20 years, the violence perpetrated by various armed groups has done nothing but increased, adding a further burden on the shoulders of the 5 million or so people who live in this area already heavily affected by poverty. Misery has been compounded by violence to form an explosive cocktail of insecurity, poaching, illegal logging, etc. in and around the famous protected park, which is also the object of much covetousness on the part of international companies vying for its rich subsoil (oil, minerals, etc.).
‘The park is under threat from all sides’, says Marie d’Huart, Virunga Origins’ CEO for Europe. ‘Faced with this situation, a systemic review was carried out with the help of international donors, Congolese diplomatic bodies and countries that support the DRC. This led to the idea that if the park, the preservation of which represents a loss of natural and therefore financial resources for the local populations, managed to develop an alternative economic proposal that would offer these populations a decent income, they would no longer have an interest in exploiting this protected area. It was on this basis that the Virunga Alliance was launched in 2013. This public-private partnership initiative is based on three pillars: the introduction of healthy ecotourism, which has unfortunately ground to a halt in the wake of the current violence; the supply of energy to neighbouring regions via the construction of hydroelectric power stations; and the agro-economic development of the region, a component marketed by the Virunga Origins brand since its launch 5 years ago’.
Made in Congo
‘We took the gamble of building the entire production process on site so that all the added value would remain at local level’, continues the manager, who took up her post last spring. ‘For cocoa, this means that we will dry the beans, roast them, debacterialise them, grind them, transform them into chocolate and package the bars locally. The same goes for coffee, for which we even have the equipment needed to package it in biodegradable capsules. We are therefore in the process of training a large number of people and giving them jobs, in a region where the unemployment rate is 80%. What’s more, all the businesses we’re setting up are part of the social economy and are not for profit. To sum up, I’d say we’ve set up a sort of virtuous Silicon Valley, in which several economic zones are being created that are in line with the principles of fair trade, environmental sustainability and 100% made in Congo’. It should be noted that in the case of Virunga Origins chocolate, one thing is Belgian: the recipes, which have been developed by Bruges chocolatier Dominique Persoone. Every month, the brand produces around 10 tonnes of chocolate and a few hundred kilos of coffee. To sell its products, Virunga Origins is targeting Europe, but is not neglecting Africa. ‘To buy our products in Belgium, individuals go through our web shop and the corporate sector contacts us directly. We have a warehouse in Mechelen that serves all our B2B customers, including a number of organic and specialist shops. On the other hand, we are not yet present in the mass retail sector, but the ambition is there. And it’s my job to make it happen. Elsewhere in Europe, our products are currently sold mainly in Germany, Luxembourg, France, Italy and a little in Spain. We also sell a lot in the DRC and Africa. The same products as in Europe, such as coffee, chocolate, vanilla, etc., but also products intended exclusively for the local market, such as vitaminised biscuits, palm oil and soap.
Multi-cropping, premiums and living income
All Virunga Origins products, most of which have triple Fairtrade, organic and Rainforest Alliance certification, are also the result of one of the key initiatives introduced by the brand: multicropping. ‘This method provides an income guarantee for farmers, who grow several crops on the same plot of land in order to counter international fluctuations, the effects of climate change and, above all, the seasonal nature of certain harvests,’ explains Marie d’Huart. ‘They will grow vanilla, palm trees, cocoa, coffee, etc. at different times of the year, not forgetting food crops or crops for the local market such as beans, groundnuts, manioc and others. Another initiative introduced by Virunga Origins is the systematic payment of a premium to producers. ‘For cocoa, for example, we pay a direct premium of $100 per tonne over the market price, even though we handle all the storage and processing of the beans through our chain. This eases the burden on farmers, reduces the risk of looting by armed militias and gives us better control over quality. Despite these measures, however, the CEO cannot (yet?) say that all the producers in the Virunga Origins chain are managing to earn a living wage. ‘My current task is to objectify a whole range of data, and in particular to monitor living income accurately. For employees who are directly employed in our factories or processing units, this is obviously achieved. And as far as the 10,000 or so farmers we work with are concerned, my feeling is that it has been achieved overall thanks to multicropping, even if I’m not in a position to state this with absolute certainty at this stage. But I do hope to be able to guarantee it very soon, which would be a first in the sector.
Zero deforestation, zero exploitation and zero violence
Marie d’Huart adds that, more generally, Virunga Origins’ policy and strategy are based on three main principles. ‘Our ESG compass has three key indicators: zero deforestation, zero exploitation and zero violence. This last point is of course the most difficult to achieve in the region and is a long-term objective. To achieve it, we have set ourselves the goal of creating a total of 100,000 jobs by 2040. By 2021, we had already created 4,000 direct and indirect jobs. Why 100,000 jobs? Because following the 2021 monitoring, we found that 10% of these 4,000 jobs were filled by ex-combatants who had laid down their arms to find stable employment. Extrapolating this figure, bearing in mind that at the time the Alliance’s strategy was drawn up there were between 7,000 and 8,000 people enrolled in various armed militias, the creation of 80,000 to 100,000 jobs could potentially make it possible to disarm everyone in the region.
‘Producing and processing is easy. The challenge is selling’
In the meantime, however, Virunga Origins faces a number of challenges, starting with the fact that the instability and poverty that reign in the region mean that the organisation has to keep a close eye on everything, especially when it comes to installations. Another major challenge is to professionalise people from a region where literacy is not taken for granted, even though the brand intends to use 100% local labour, including for management positions. ‘Not to mention the fact that we operate in highly competitive markets, accustomed to rock-bottom prices made possible by ongoing distortions. Structurally, everyone thinks it’s normal to have a bar of chocolate at €2, when this can only be the result of purchase prices worthy of slavery’, Marie d’Huart denounces. ‘Producing and processing is the easy part. The challenge will be to convince consumers that our chocolate is not intended to be an elite chocolate, but that its price is quite simply right.
According to the CEO of Virunga Origins, consumers therefore have a decisive role to play in the many issues affecting the coffee and chocolate sectors. ‘I’m used to saying that you vote with your wallet. It’s not just a question of being informed, but also of choosing and buying. And when it comes to public authorities, that’s even more obvious. In my opinion, we should simply no longer allow public contracts to result in the purchase of coffee or chocolate that is not fair trade or responsible. There is one final threat to the Virunga Origins project, and not the least of all: political and military instability. ‘This is the number one risk for us. The security and continuity of supply in the conditions faced by the regions that supply us. Over the past year, the situation has clearly worsened. Our factories and plantations are practically in a war zone…’.
