Eurochocolate, to be held this coming 13 through 21 October, will be hosting for the third consecutive year the appointment with Eurochocolate World, the special section entirely devoted to the cocoa production world and fair trade, sponsored by the ICCO (International Cocoa Organization) and organized in collaboration with Fairtrade Transfair Italia.

In the atmospheric setting of the Rocca Paolina Exhibition Centre (CERP), which will be the site of Eurochocolate World throughout the entire event, numerous international delegations of cocoa producers will take turns introducing the general public to cocoa villages, with their traditions, colours, and expectations.

It is not, however, intended as just a bit of folklore, but instead means to attract the attention of all fans of the “food of the gods” toward social, organizational, and professional aspects that are often not entirely linear.

These are the bases for the teaching workshops of Equoscuola, targeting children. Here, in the morning sessions open on schooldays, youngsters will be able to learn the elementary principles of fair trade, gradually approaching the significance of an informed and responsible consumption.

Central appointments of the agenda of the Eurochocolate World 2007 proceedings will be the second edition of C8, the International Summit of the Top Eight Cocoa Producing Countries, on Thursday, 18 October.
The first part of the C8 proceedings, starting at 9 am, will be the roundtable discussion on the topic “The Sustainable Economy of Cocoa Producing Countries”. Guidelines of the discussion, moderated by Saint Cyr Djkalou, the producers’ spokesperson at the ICCO, will be the themes that emerged at the end of the Summit held in Ghana in early October and promoted by the ICCO. In attendance will be the representatives of the most important and significant associations of the Top Eight Cocoa Producing Countries (Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Indonesia, Brazil, Ecuador, Dominican Republic), ICCO executive director Jan Vingerhoets, and representatives of the Italian and European chocolate sector interested in the initiative.
The second part of the Summit, which will be held starting at 2 pm, will focus on bringing together representatives of the Cocoa Producers’ Associations, Italian Master Chocolatiers, and producers of semi-finished products, through a Sector Meeting organized in the CERP rooms. The aim of the initiative is to develop a directed and unmediated bilateral knowledge of the new potential markets, in order to facilitate direct relations among the protagonists of the chocolate production chain.

Furthermore, like every year, Eurochocolate World will offer the possibility to learn more about one particular cocoa producing country, analyzing it in all its various aspects.
This year it will be Ghana, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of its independence, that will present its culture to Italy. In Perugia for the occasion will be the Ambassador of Ghana in Italy, His Excellency Charles Agyei Amoama, and an official delegation of the Ghana Cocoa Board, the institution that regulates, monitors, and promotes Ghana’s chocolate, who will be Eurochocolate World’s welcome guests.

On Friday, 19 October, at the Hotel Giò Jazz Area, there will also be a dinner featuring tastes of typical Ghanese dishes, reserved to the Authorities and the Press, to celebrate the history, culture, experience in the cocoa sector, and socioeconomic potentials of Ghana, an example of unequalled stability, prosperity, cultural liveliness, and pacific coexistence in the Western Africa area, and among the most significant ones of the entire continent.

On Friday, 19 October, at 11.30 am, in the Hall of Honour of Palazzo Donini, the seat of the Region of Umbria, Eurochocolate World will present – in collaboration with and with the participation of the project leader, the Latin-American Institute – the objectives reached with the Chocolatino experience, the project for development of the social and productive cohesion of the Latin American cocoa and chocolate sector which, with the support of the Development Cooperation department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of International Trade, the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade (or Italian Trade Commission), and the FIE (Federación Interamericana Empresarial), took place this past 16 through 20 July in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

This year, once again, within Eurochocolate there will be the Equochocolate, Rocca Paolina area, the exhibition and sales area devoted exclusively to the marketing of certified fairtrade chocolate, organized in collaboration with Fairtrade-TransFair Italia, which offers references from numerous European countries. It will also be possible to become acquainted with the curious chocolate-based products from Ghana, and chocolate specialities from Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Brazil, in the exclusive “Cioccolato dal Mondo”(Chocolate from the World) area.

Interculturalism is more than ever at the centre of focus of Eurochocolate World, which hopes to become an effective instrument for dialogue and discussion on international topics, casting light on and giving voice to the sector’s problems within a broader framework of economic and social development.