Semuliki Forest

Uganda

SEMULIKI FOREST

Rich chocolate, spice and dried fruit notes characterize this B Corp sourcing from majority women farmers.

Latitude Trade Co. (LTC), founded in 2016, is a vertically integrated certified B Corp in Uganda sourcing from more than 4,664 certified organic smallholder producers, 2,266 (49%) of whom are women and 3,228 (69%) of whom are individuals under 35 years of age.

LTC produces both award-winning specialty cacao and bean to bar chocolate in Uganda, employing more than 50 organized rural collection points for producers to sell fresh cacao weekly into the network. The producers receive a premium cash price at the point-of-sale. Semuliki Forest cacao is sourced from the region around Bundibugyo in Western Uganda. LTC offers producers training on farm productivity, ecological practices, cacao quality, and finance, as well as support in opening bank accounts and in building credit. LTC’s centralized fermentation facility and warehouse sits in the village of Kasese, where beans dry in the sun on raised racks for six to seven days and are blended before export to create consistent lots with luscious flavor notes of cinnamon, dark chocolate, and fig.

Download 2023 SEMULIKI FOREST Transparency Data

TERROIR

In western Uganda, 20 km from the border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, lies Bundibugyo, a town and region known for cocoa production. The community sits at 800 meters, nestled into the foothills of the Rwenzori mountain range, which runs between Uganda, Rwanda, and the D.R.C. It’s a beautiful place, rain clouds moving down from the mountaintop throughout the day and the jungle teeming with life. Recognizing the quality of Ugandan cacao and the opportunity for a specialty market to be established, Latitude Trade Co. established a transparent buying network and a centralized fermentation and drying program in 2017. Now they are producing one of the 50 highest quality beans in the world while also providing greater economic opportunities to cacao producers. Cacao is frequently intercropped with banana, plantain, palm and coffee.

Latitude Trade Co. (LTC), founded in 2016, is a vertically integrated certified B Corp in Uganda sourcing from more than 4,664 certified organic smallholder producers, 2,266 (49%) of whom are women and 3,228 (69%) of whom are individuals under 35 years of age.

LTC produces both award-winning specialty cacao and bean to bar chocolate in Uganda, employing more than 50 organized rural collection points for producers to sell fresh cacao weekly into the network. The producers receive a premium cash price at the point-of-sale. Semuliki Forest cacao is sourced from the region around Bundibugyo in Western Uganda. LTC offers producers training on farm productivity, ecological practices, cacao quality, and finance, as well as support in opening bank accounts and in building credit. LTC’s centralized fermentation facility and warehouse sits in the village of Kasese, where beans dry in the sun on raised racks for six to seven days and are blended before export to create consistent lots with luscious flavor notes of cinnamon, dark chocolate, and fig.

Download 2023 SEMULIKI FOREST Transparency Data

TERROIR

In western Uganda, 20 km from the border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, lies Bundibugyo, a town and region known for cocoa production. The community sits at 800 meters, nestled into the foothills of the Rwenzori mountain range, which runs between Uganda, Rwanda, and the D.R.C. It’s a beautiful place, rain clouds moving down from the mountaintop throughout the day and the jungle teeming with life. Recognizing the quality of Ugandan cacao and the opportunity for a specialty market to be established, Latitude Trade Co. established a transparent buying network and a centralized fermentation and drying program in 2017. Now they are producing one of the 50 highest quality beans in the world while also providing greater economic opportunities to cacao producers. Cacao is frequently intercropped with banana, plantain, palm and coffee.

Order Sample

Samples are only available from the USA

Wholesale Orders

Order Sample

Samples are only available from the USA

Wholesale Orders

2023 Semuliki Forest Farmgate price

$3.34 USD

This is the actual price paid to the cacao producer for their product (typically on a per kg or per lb basis) when they sell it to the first buyer.

Farmgate price is often paid for "wet" or fresh cacao, recently harvested and scooped out of cracked pods for sale. Wet cacao loses 60-70% of its weight during fermentation and drying, typically reaching 7-8% humidity before it is sold.

Uncommon calculates farmgate price for each cacao supplier based on the specific weight loss conversion percentage provided to us by the supplier, and we report farmgate price on a per kg dried equivalent basis for all cacao beans we source.

Pictured is producer Kyakimwa Perusi harvesting cacao

2023 Semuliki Forest FOB price

$4.50 USD

This is the price paid by Uncommon to our partners for cacao transported and loaded onto a ship for export.

Uncommon then covers all of the costs of shipping, freight charges, insurance, import, domestic logistics, warehouse ingestion, customs and duties.

Free on board (FOB) is an international shipping term that represents the seller's responsibility for bringing the cacao over the rails of the export ship.

Pictured is Steven harvesting a pod from his farm

Isaac sits surrounded by freshly harvested cacao on a buying data

2023 Semuliki Forest Average sales price

$6.96 USD

This is the weighted average price per kg for cacao sold to the premium & ultra premium chocolate makers who purchased it during this year from Uncommon Cacao.

Pictured is Isaac surrounded by freshly harvested cacao on a buying day.