Cargill reportedly planning to source cocoa beans from local Indonesian farmers for its new cocoa-processing plant in country, which is slated to be operational in 2014

Nevin Barich

JAKARTA, Indonesia , December 6, 2013 (Indonesia Government News) – The US-based multinational company Cargill Inc is planning to source cocoa beans from local Indonesian farmers for its new cocoa-processing plant in Indonesia which is slated to be operational from 2014, media reports said citing the company's Asia-Pacific head Job Leuning.

He said the company has already sources about 20,000 to 30,000 metric tons of cocoa beans from local Indonesian growers before starting the construction of the plant. The $100 million worth cocoa processing plant is being built at Gresik, East Java, which is also the company's first processing plant in Asia.

"When the facility starts operating next year, a majority of the beans used will have already been locally sourced," Job was quoted by The Jakarta Post as saying on Thursday. He also added the company plans to train 1,300 cocoa farmers on farming methods to improve production and quality.

The new processing plant is a mid-sized facility and it is expected to produce 70,000 metric tons annually, Job added.

Indonesia is the World's thirst largest producer of cocoa with production reaching 833,310 tons in 2012, as per the Agriculture Ministry data.

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