Invest
Climate-bond II
The Climate Bond II
Climate-positive chocolate
Good for the planet & you
Organic cocoa from dynamic agroforestry
The road to climate positivity from fairafric
Climate-positive means that more climate-damaging emissions (e.g. CO2) and impacts are bound than caused.
The aim of fairafric is to leave the earth in a better condition than it was before our activities. We are not only concerned with CO2, but also with soil fertility, water retention, maximising plant and animal biodiversity, resilience to climate change and the production of healthy products, among other things.
The Dynamic Agroforestry (DAF) cultivation method is based on the knowledge of the indigenous peoples of Latin America and combines many elements of regenerative agriculture or permaculture. The plants are grown in different levels (shrubs, half-stems, etc.) of the forest and different local tree species are planted: Crop trees, biomass trees, shade trees, etc. One of the main objectives is to produce a lot of biomass to improve soil quality. Therefore, not only cocoa is grown, but also other tree and plant species such as cashew, mango, pineapple, etc., which can be processed by Fairafric. The production of biomass binds a large amount of CO2 in the long term. Significantly more than is emitted in Fairafric's entire value chain.
Cocoa is one of the most important cash crops in West Africa. Due to a lack of alternatives and in order to generate an income for the family, an area is often cleared and then as many cocoa trees as possible are planted on the piece of land. After a few years of intensive cultivation, the nutrient reserves in the soil are exhausted and a high use of artificial fertilisers and pesticides is necessary. In Ghana, conventional cocoa cultivation is responsible for the deforestation of 25% of the rainforest.
The cacao tree is a shade plant. This means that the cocoa tree needs larger trees (e.g. palm trees) above it to provide shade and help it to grow and thrive optimally. At DAF, care is therefore taken to ensure that the trees and plants stand next to the cocoa trees, provide sufficient shade and supply the nutrients that the cocoa tree needs. The greatest possible diversity of plants is necessary for this symbiosis. This symbiosis promotes biodiversity, increases the yield per tree, increases soil fertility and the water storage capacity of the soil and the biomass trees actively store CO2 in the soil.
In initial analyses, external experts have determined that by
storing the biomass in the soil, fairafric can store up to 4x more CO2 in the
soil in the long term than is emitted in the entire value chain.
1. higher cocoa premium
In addition to the highest organic premium (692$/MT) in West Africa, fairafric pays farmers a climate premium of 150$/MT. This is a multiple of the regular organic premium or other certifications such as Fairtrade.
2. diversification of income
The cultivation of several crops helps to diversify income and makes it possible to earn an income outside the cocoa harvest season.
3. better soil quality & resilience to climate change
By improving soil fertility and other benefits of DAF for the soil, the plants become significantly stronger and more resistant to environmental influences. In addition, the soil quality increases the quality and yield of the fruit. This means that the land can be cultivated naturally in the long term and sustainably.
Our chocolate factory has been located in rural Ghana since 2020
We achieve enormous impact in 7 out of 17 SDGs in all dimensions of sustainability.
Reference fairafric AG
Cord Budde
Owner Ludwig Weinrich
"We were one of the first producers of organic & Fairtrade chocolate in Germany. I see a similarly bright future for Made in Africa."
Weinrich produces the brands Vivani, GEPA, iChoc, Devine and many more. More than 1 million bars are produced every day at the company's headquarters in Herford. Weinrich has been a strategic investor in fairafric since 2019. Weinrich has significantly increased its investment in fairafric this year. Weinrich also trains our key Ghanaian staff as part of a training programme and supports us in running the factory.
Marie-Claire Pellerin
CEO Claro Fair Trade AG
,fairafric will shape fair trade. This is the only way to create an equal economy."
claro Fair Trade AG is the Swiss fair trade organisation and has around 60 points of sale for fairly traded products.Claro has been a strategic investor in fairafric since 2019. Claro has significantly expanded its investment in fairafric this year and is responsible for fairafric's distribution in Switzerland.
Wolf-Rüdiger Daetz
Chairman of the Supervisory Board of fairafric AG
,,I see enormous growth potential in fairafric and am convinced that the business model can set a new industry standard."
Wolf-Rüdiger Daetz has 30 years of experience as a CFO in international industry with local assignments in Asia, Europe and Central America. He is a committed impact investor at fairafric and a chocolate lover, and has also been Chairman of the Supervisory Board at fairafric since 2022.
Frequently asked questions about fairafric
2015
First official meetings between Hendrik and cocoa farmers and workers in Ghana.
2016
First Kickstarter campaign
Foundation of fairafric GmbH
First production
2017
Second Kickstarter campaign
Successful organic certification of the entire value chain
Switch from 20g bars to 100g bars
2018
Third Kickstarter campaign
Climate-neutral certification (both chocolate and company)
Establishment of the fairafric Foundation, which holds shares in fairafric GmbH for cocoa farmers
First Seedrs campaign (Seedrs enables startups to gain their customers as shareholders), in which 264 private individuals participated in fairafric
2019
Decision to build a larger chocolate factory on our own: On the land of the cocoa cooperative we work with, in the rural region where the cocoa beans grow.
Increase in shareholders to 360; Ludwig Weinrich and claro fairtrade AG join the fairafric family
Winner of the Lammsbräu Sustainability Award
2020
Construction of our new chocolate factory in Amanase. Record-breaking construction time of 5.5 months from the ground-breaking ceremony to the first bar.
2021
fairafric GmbH becomes fairafric AG. Within 3 days, the first convertible bond is fully subscribed with €990,000 and within 24 hours the first share issue of fairafric for €999,589.80 is sold out. fairafric buys 250 tons of cocoa beans for production in 2021 and pays the highest premiums in West Africa. fairafric also chases from record to record in 2021. fairafric more than doubles the previous year's sales and produces over 2,000,000 bars of chocolate.
2022
After an outstanding first quarter in 2022, macroeconomic shocks prevent further growth for fairafric. However, while many other brands are struggling with declining sales and discontinuations, fairafric remains present in all markets and is gaining strong market share.
fairafric also reaches the final of the German Sustainability Award 2022 and is recognized as one of the most sustainable companies in Germany.
2023
fairafric is entering the B2B business with its own line of chocolate drops. The chocolate drops are used in the products of large bakeries and cookie manufacturers, among others, and the line is soon running around the clock. fairafric launches a vegan cashew-based milk chocolate on the market, which is a complete success and becomes one of the best-selling products. fairafric receives the first major orders for contract manufacturing and starts production for the first customer in the USA.
The owners of fairafric are the founding team, our 1142 shareholders from the customer base, Ludwig Weinrich GmbH and claro fair trade AG as well as our team and the cocoa farmers of our partner cooperative.
In 2024, we will source organic cocoa from a dynamic agroforestry project in Ghana for the first time in order to achieve even greater ecological added value and pay the highest organic premium to our farmers.
In addition, fairafric wants to promote the planting and conversion of further farms to DAF and increase the yields of existing DAF farms.
Every euro invested binds CO2 in the soil in the long term and creates jobs in Ghana!
We expect to be operationally profitable from 2025. As we will have some start-up costs with the switch to beans from dynamic agroforestry and our ingredient stocks and temporary storage facilities will have to increase significantly to enable the upcoming growth, we are forecasting a loss for 2024.
Frequently asked questions about the loan
The campaign will run until €999,000 has been subscribed.
The first climate bond from fairafric was sold out within a short space of time. We are therefore assuming that it will quickly be fully subscribed. We process the subscriptions according to when they are received.
As the loan is unsecured, you may lose your entire investment.
Don't under any circumstances invest money that you absolutely need.
The impact of fairafric
The management team in Ghana
Michael Marmon-Halm
Managing Director Ghana
Michael has more than 12 years of experience in the cocoa industry in Ghana and has studied quality management.
Griselda Esther Ossei
Chief of Staff
Griselda brings a lot of experience in accounting and supports in strategic planning and implementation around the fairafric brand, marketing, HR and operations in Ghana.
Enoch Padi Adu
Technical Manager
Enoch is a specialist in process planning and system control with over 15 years of experience in cocoa processing at 3 multinational cocoa processing companies.
Audrey Marmon-Halm
Quality Manager
Our Quality Manager Audrey has 11 years of professional experience in quality control and quality assurance.
Das Management Team in Deutschland
Convinced?
Would you like to be part of the biggest chocolate revolution of all time and make the first climate-positive chocolate possible with your investment?
Then sign up for our climate bond using the form below:
