Trinidad and Tobago’s cocoa is world renowned. Trinitario cocoa is known for its robust cocoa flavour associated with ancillary fruity, floral and spicy flavour notes. How do we protect its reputation and guarantee that its quality continues to be recognised internationally? The Government of Trinidad and Tobago, working with the Cocoa Development Company of Trinidad and Tobago and UWI’s Cocoa Research Centre, have a solution: a certification mark for “Trinidad and Tobago Trinitario Fine Flavour Cocoa”.
The mark, recently unveiled by the government and managed by the Cocoa Development Company of Trinidad and Tobago, is a formal, internationally recognised trademark designed to celebrate products derived from T&T’s Trinitario cocoa variety. It can potentially unlock premium prices for local cocoa farmers.
“Trinidad and Tobago, as the country of origin of the Trinitario cacao, has always held a special place globally,” says Professor Pathmanathan Umaharan, Director of the CRC, “and The Trinidad and Tobago Trinitario Fine Flavour Cocoa mark brings that recognition to the products that carry the mark.”
Prof Umaharan explained that some years ago, the cocoa farmers from Gran Couva registered a geographical indication entitled “Montserrat Hills Cocoa”, an intellectual property mark tied to cocoa and cocoa products produced from a specific area of historical repute. The mark differentiates superior quality cocoa borne from the fabled “chocolate soils” of the Montserrat Hills. Geographical indications, unlike certification marks, are owned by the community from which they come.
However, there’s more to creating a certification mark than stamping a product. It involves enormous back-end work.
“The back-end of a certification mark refers to the behind- the-scenes processes, legal requirements, standards, and technical operations that authorise, monitor, and enforce the use of a symbol,” explains Prof Umaharan. “A certification mark on a product indicates that a third party has verified that goods meet specific, pre-defined standards.”
This is important to protect the brand—and consumers— from green-washing, the deceptive marketing tactic of presenting a company’s products, as environmentally friendly when they are not, often to boost their reputation. It involves using certification marks with vague or misleading claims to create a false impression of sustainability.
“Trinidad and Tobago, as the country of origin of the Trinitario cacao, has always held a special place globally, and The Trinidad and Tobago Trinitario Fine Flavour Cocoa mark brings that recognition to the products that carry the mark.”
“Building the back-end infrastructure for certification marks is critically important to provide validity and trust to the marks,” says Prof Umaharan. “Providing the certification marks a legal basis. Clearly outlining the claims of the mark, as well as developing standards, building technically sound evidence-based indicators, and an independent third-party certification are all necessary to build trust in the mark.”
He adds, “Ideally, the mark should also be supported by a traceability system that can provide visibility of the certifications to the consumer. Building the back-end support system therefore requires a close collaboration between government (Legal Affairs, standard setting body), technical organisations that provide third-party evidence-based certification and traceability services, as well as agencies that manage the certification mark.”
The CRC has done a massive amount of work in this area. This includes:
“Together these allow for tree-to-bar certification of products, an innovation that can set products from Trinidad and Tobago apart in the marketplace, thus giving them an even stronger comparative advantage,” says Prof Umaharan.
Building this infrastructure is not a solo mission. Prof Umaharan emphasises that “close institutional collaboration” is essential. This includes the Intellectual Property Office providing the legal basis, the Bureau of Standards facilitating trade through national standards, CRC providing varietal, origin and sustainability certification, and the Ministry of Agriculture and the Cocoa Development Company of Trinidad and Tobago managing farm-level certifications.
To ensure these systems remain beyond reproach, the CRC is currently having its laboratories accredited to provide the most robust technical support possible.
By combining historical repute with modern digital validation, Trinidad and Tobago is working to ensure that its “fine flavour” reputation remains as authentic as the soil it grows in.
