Cooperative ASPAC SANCORE was created two years ago, starting with 65 members. These members are a mix of Yanesha indigenous peoples, Austro-German settlers and migrants from the Peruvian highlands, who work together to improve quality and prices through the cooperative.

Their productive area, settled in the Amazon region at the foot of the Peruvian Andes (about 350 meters above sea level), has not historically been a cacao-growing region, with cultivation expanding in the last 8 years, now consisting of about 700 hectares in the Oxapampa district.

In the last year, the Association has worked within the Seed Project (implemented by NGOs Desco and DyA) to boost production of cocoa “free of child labor”. Traditionally, production practices included labor from the whole family, including children, thereby affecting their school attendance. In some cases, the activities performed by children were dangerous. Now, the Association members are committed to producing cocoa without the labour of their children, and to instead promoting their education.