Who We Are

The term 'quality' covers many different aspects and means different things to different people, but InCoQuality considers all aspects of quality along the value chain to be important. This encompasses the many factors, such as genetics, growing environment and post-harvest practices, that affect the physical and chemical characteristics of the cocoa bean, but also aspects such as traceability, certification and geographic indication. These factors have various direct and indirect effects on sensory properties, food safety, sustainability and value for money which ultimately impact on consumer acceptability and decision-making when purchasing the final products.

As set out in the Global Cocoa Agenda [weblink] which has been internationally agreed as the road map to achieve a sustainable world cocoa economy, there is a need to "Improve cocoa quality by better communication of industry needs, post-harvest processing and quality assessment..." and to "...enhance food safety by wider promotion and adoption of Good Agricultural Practices". With research findings continuously improving our understanding of factors affecting quality, innovation and consumer interest in new flavours, sustainable sourcing and products with health benefits, rapid developments in quality assessment and changes in the legislative framework for food safety, InCoQuality sets out to provide the independent forum for researchers to present and discuss their work and to help update the international community on this very current and rapidly evolving thematic area.

Cocoa beans

Cocoa beans

We are a new group and so our plans are still evolving but our first activities will focus on:

  • Providing a web-based forum, to be complemented with face-to-face meetings where possible, to discuss how existing knowledge and experiences can be distilled and shared with key stakeholders in the value chain.
  • Collating, organising and sharing knowledge with a view to identifying gaps where more research or information should be sought based on the needs in the value chain.