News

The supply of organic cocoa is under pressure. To guarantee the continuing availability of our products, we have found new suppliers of organic and Fairtrade-certified cocoa beans in Africa. We continue to operate with our exemplary partner Lizard Earth in Sierra Leone. Find out more about the benefits of diversifying our source countries.

25 years of experience and bespoke products: since we opened our cocoa factory two years ago, we have grown considerably with organic chocolate. Find out about our wide product range, the organic and Fairtrade certifications such as FLO, VPT and FFL that customers want, and our trending varieties such as those with very high cocoa content, vegan and single-origin types and customised recipes with a unique flavour profile.

From spring 2025, PRONATEC will be delivering its liquid organic cocoa mass and cocoa butter using solar-powered electric trucks supplied by Transfood AG. Initially, they will be used in Switzerland, but we are already planning how to use them elsewhere in Europe.

Our 2024 Christmas donation went towards the expansion of an existing school building in Madagascar. This will benefit the children of KOMAM's vanilla and clove producers and other children in the region. Discover our new information page on PREMIUM SPICES - our partner in Madagascar for 20 years - and meet the team in person at Biofach 2025!!

Find out more about the current priorities and milestones at PRONATEC. In this report, we discuss not only our successes, but also some challenges we faced, because transparency is of central importance to achieve major sustainability goals together.

For exactly ten years, energetic small farmers from the MITSINJO cooperative have been supplying us with high-quality cinnamon, ginger and turmeric through our partner PREMIUM SPICES. Personal testimonials and pictures show: Membership of the cooperative has changed their lives ...

Trade in the coveted commodity cocoa has changed dramatically. High prices and the EU deforestation regulation are challenging our teams on the ground. We provide an insight into the current day-to-day business of YACAO and FUNDOPO in the Dominican Republic.

From the due diligence statement to data transfer: On our new information site you can find out about the processes and responsibilities for implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) for our cocoa products.

Procuring Fairtrade cocoa with Voluntary Physical Traceability (VPT) has become quite difficult. An exemption authorisation from Fairtrade Max Havelaar allows our customers and us to use Fairtrade Mass Balance cocoa for a limited period of time.

The volatility of cocoa prices is presenting huge challenges for our customers and also for ourselves, as a cocoa processor and partner for smallholders. What is the structural imbalance that has led to the crisis? And how are we dealing with it?

Our organic vanilla from Madagascar is mostly purchased green from the smallholders and then professionally fermented and dried at centres run by PREMIUM SPICES. This means it complies with the highest quality standards.

Our organic sugar partner in Mozambique has added a worm compost production unit to its circular economy process. By doing so, EcoFarm is boosting both the soil and the plants and also creating more job opportunities.

Cocoa from agroforestry systems is based on regenerative practices and is climate-resilient. A workshop run by EcoTop in Bolivia demonstrated new ways of combining economic efficiency and biodiversity.

Many of PRONATEC’s projects go beyond the minimum requirements provided by organic and fair trade standards. Our current biodiversity project in the Dominican Republic fosters species diversity whilst creating valuable additional revenue for smallholder families.

Grown by smallholder cooperatives in Madagascar, our turmeric products are characterised by their particularly high curcumin content and have a range of characteristics that make them highly valuable. What are the benefits of turmeric, and what are the different forms (cut, fine cut and powder) used for?

PRONATEC Swiss Cocoa Production has increased its production capacity by adding a second ball mill for producing cocoa mass. We have also added roasted coca nibs to our range.

PRONATEC has started developing software that will make it possible to reliably collect georeferenced data of cocoa plantations as required under the EU Deforestation Regulation and digitalise all documentation relating to the internal control system (ICS).

Our ROC-certified cocoa mass, butter, powder and nibs from Dominican Republic are available now. Read on to find out why we had no problems with obtaining the exacting Regenerative Organic Certified certification, and why we haven't had a single case of child labour at our subsidiary YACAO and the cocoa producing smallholders in the Dominican Republic...

The cocoa department at PRONATEC is ready for the new EU regulation on deforestation-free supply chains. An overview of all the requirements and what we are doing now.

An assessment carried out in September shows there have been no pesticide cases in our semi-finished cocoa products since production started. This is thanks to our production being 100% organic, but also thanks to our unique cocoa bean analysis procedures.

In the Dominican Republic, our partner cooperative FUNDOPO is currently selling around 70,000 cocoa seedlings at cost price. The aim? Long-term improvements in yield and income for smallholders.

The prices for conventional sugar are at a historic high and nearly the same as the prices for organic sugar. That's why switching to organic now could be worthwhile for a number of reasons.

One year after production began, our CEO David Yersin looks back - and forwards. What trends and challenges can he see and what can our customers expect in future from "the world's only exclusively organic cocoa processing company"?

Our Head Sugar Nicolo Rieben visited Costa Rica and Paraguay. What is a typical day in the life of a sugar cane farmer like? In his face-to-face conversations, Nicolo learnt a great deal about the difficult work ofarvesting sugar cane and the valuable support available from cooperatives.

What are the benefits of organically produced food? We asked ChatGPT, a chatbot that uses artificial intelligence.

Sustainability and social responsibility across the entire supply chain are central concerns of ours. We are members of Sedex and would be delighted for you to connect with us!

In 2021, PRONATEC had already achieved 2 million in fair trade premium payments. In 2022, we were able to go even further: Precisely 2,364,735 US dollars were paid out in 2022 to the smallholders – a new record!

The harvest of our organic cane sugar from Paraguay ended in November, and that of the organic European beet sugar finished a few weeks ago. This provides a good opportunity to take a closer look at these two sources of sugar. How do things currently stand with regard to prices, sustainability and social development?

Our Dominican subsidiary YACAO brings around 3000 smallholders from the FUNDOPO farmers' organisation into the PRONATEC supply chain. "The stories of YACAO and FUNDOPO are inextricably linked with one another". A personal interview with the managing directors of these two organisations.

Many consumers want natural food products without any artificial additives. The changes to the European Organic Regulation have also accelerated the trend for natural flavourings. More and more food producers are ceasing to use vanilla flavourings and switching to vanilla extracts instead. 

Samuel Hanimann, Head of Quality Assurance & Quality Management, reports on the construction of the laboratory in Beringen and the resulting benefits of PRONATEC having its own in-house laboratory for our customers. What’s more, our cocoa processing plant has been officially FSSC 22000-certified since 28 September.

The new PRONATEC organic cocoa processing plant near Schaffhausen by the Rhine Falls opened its doors during the weekend of 16/17 September 2022.

PRONATEC Swiss Cocoa Production has successfully passed all its organic and Fairtrade audits and has been officially in operation since June! More on this and an interview with our cocoa processing engineer Kevin Katy in this News article.

Our sugar expert Nicolo Rieben has already visited quite a few projects. Our latest farming project in Mozambique impressed him a great deal in several ways. “The social and economic benefits in this extremely poor region are enormous.”

Our certification and cocoa specialist, Christoph Eisenbeiss, attended the recent general meeting of the FUNDOPO smallholders’ organisation in the Dominican Republic. “The focus for 2022 is on providing technical support for smallholders and looking after cocoa-growing land – to ensure sustainable increases in yield.”

Michaela Scarpatetti, our International Sales Manager, visited the Providencia sugar mill in Colombia. Here she shares with us some of her impressions from her visit – and tells us what she finds so interesting about her work.

In a new series, we're introducing some of the people behind PRONATEC Swiss Cocoa Production. Despite the commissioning phase being such a busy time, Plant General Manager Yannick Rihs and Technical Manager Timo Speerli found the time to answer a few questions.

The start of this year marked the 45th anniversary of the founding of PRONATEC AG. In this interview, David Yersin talks about courage, joy and the strength to persevere – even in the face of obstacles.

All the equipment has been assembled and installed, and now it’s time for commissioning. We are currently checking around 7,000 control signals – a mammoth task that is worth doing! Have a look at our quick run-through of a machine installation now.

The French organic and fair trade association Biopartenaire is run through exemplary participatory processes and plays a key role in shaping the market in France. We are proud to have been on board as a member for over ten years.

Try our new demerara sugar from Colombia – we are pleased to offer this high-quality sugar at a good price. Find out more about our partner in the country of origin and how this decorative, large-grained crystalline sugar with the distinctive caramel aroma is made.

Thanks to a partnership with Lizard Earth, PRONATEC is now sourcing organic cocoa directly from Sierra Leone for the first time. Numerous farming families are benefiting from this long-term project. Find out more about how Lizard Earth is cultivating unused areas of land and helping to protect the landscape close to the Gola Rainforest National Park.

In January 2021, we interviewed four families from the Analanjirofo region in northern Madagascar. They each belong to one of the smallholder cooperatives, KOMAM and COPPVM.

An important factor in the organic certification of primary products is an effective internal control system. The technicians visit the plantations, walk through them with the producers and make sure that no chemical fertilisers or pesticides are being used. Learn more about their daily business in this interview.

To support sustainable freight shipping, PRONATEC was involved in one of Fairtradesupport shipping's transatlantic voyages. Part of the cargo which the 32-meter-long sailing freighter "Tres Hombres" brought to Europe, was SUCANAT whole cane sugar from our Columbian supplier Molienda Real.

The current situation is also challenging for many farmers and companies. We are incredibly grateful to our local partners for ensuring the supply of organic ginger. the plant is valued in the tea and spice industry for its spicy pungency and its intense citrus note.

In August 2019, Lorenz Huber, Head cocoa beans, visited our cooperative partner COCABO in Panama. The cocoa from this region has a particularly mild taste and is, therefore, also especially suitable for chocolate with a high cocoa content.

Jeimy is head buyer of cocoa in Yamasá, Dominican Republic. Currently she is working with over 600 organic certified small cocoa farmers. She has been interviewed by Beat Wiederkehr, General Manager of YACAO.

On a visit to four partner cooperatives in Peru early July, Sandro Marti, was impressed by the busy atmosphere at the organic cocoa plantations. Thanks to the hard work of the four cooperatives, we have sufficient supplies of organic and Fair Trade cocoa from Peru.

At the beginning of 2017, Nicolas Merky travelled to Indonesia to get to know the Nira Satria cooperative better. It supplies us with organic coconut sugar and holds various certifications: EU Bio, NOP, Kosher, HACCP and soon also FLO Fairtrade.

The distribution of exquisite flavoured and sustainably produced organic raw materials, the traceability of products throughout the entire supply and processing chain as well as a pioneering spirit and passion have been the most important driving forces behind PRONATEC for 40 years.

The 2016 Zürcher Kantonalbank SME Award for sustainable companies went to PRONATEC as second-placed company.

A life without coca and an improvement in the farmers' living conditions is only possible if a fair price can be achieved in the long term with alternative products such as cocoa. This has become somewhat easier for many farmers thanks to organic and fair trade certification and cooperation with companies such as PRONATEC.