Fleurance (France) (AFP)

The first factory in Europe which will exclusively produce organic and fair trade chocolate will see the light of day in the Gers in 2021, we learned on Tuesday from Ethiquable, pillar of fair trade in France.

The founders of Ethiquable laid the foundation stone for the plant in Fleurance (Gers) on Tuesday, an investment of 15 million euros, supported by the Banque des Territoires of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations.

A quarter of the organic chocolate sold in France comes from the Ethiquable supply chains in Peru, Ecuador, Madagascar and Ivory Coast, with the objective of installing the concept of chocolate terroirs, as for wines.

"This is a new scheme, with traceability from A to Z, and the possibility of manufacturing small batches. We want to make original chocolates. This will give us more autonomy in production," said one of the founders of Ethiquable, Christophe Eberhart.

"The consumer, he insists, wants chocolate, like wines, with local cocoas, something that the mass industry has camouflaged."

The factory, located an hour and a half from Toulouse, will produce 60,000 chocolate bars every day, as demand continues to grow. Ethiquable's turnover, 45% of which comes from sales of chocolate in the organic supermarket shelves, jumped 20% in 2019.

"With a price of 2.30 euros per tablet, we offer a quality product that fairly pays the producer at an affordable price," says Mr. Eberhart.

"Ethiquable buys our production twice as expensive as the market price", according to the commercial director of the Norandino cooperative, Santiago Paz, which sells each year 250 tonnes of cocoa and as much coffee to the French cooperative.

In France, the company based in the Gers is the leading producer of organic chocolate in medium and large areas, with 25% of the market. Ethiquable sells most of its production in France, but also in Germany, Belgium and Spain.

The construction of the French factory, production of which will start in May 2021, is coupled with the construction in Peru of a cocoa mass production plant, which will then be shipped to Fleurance for the last stage of processing.

"It's a revolutionary project," said the director of Norandino, which brings together 7,000 cocoa, coffee and sugar producers in the north of Peru.

Mr. Paz is delighted that part of the transformation can take place in Latin America. Currently, it is mainly done in Europe.

© 2019 AFP