June 17, 2026

The main harvest is the busiest time of the year for YACAO. In association with the smallholder cooperative FUNDOPO, our subsidiary in the Dominican Republic ensures that the cocoa from small-scale producers is fermented, dried, inspected and prepared for export promptly after harvesting. At the same time, payments must be made promptly, storage capacity must be coordinated, and processes between the different centres must be perfectly synchronised.

In weeks like these, the stability of the supply chain does not depend on just one step in the process, but on many small details that fit together. This is precisely where the current investments come in: the aim is to create more space, clearer workflows and more streamlined processes.

The delivered cocoa beans …

… are fermented …

… and dried

At the Navarrete centre, the capacity for drying cocoa beans has been considerably increased. Six additional drying tunnels provide around 2’300 square metres of extra space. When this is added to the existing 20 tunnels, the centre now has 5’234 square metres of covered drying space in total.

Construction work begins at the Navarrete centre

Setting up the new drying tunnels at the Navarrete centre

Navarrete now has around 2,300 square metres of additional space thanks to the new drying tunnels

During the main harvest, when large quantities need to be processed within a short space of time, every square metre of covered space counts. Previously, extra temporary drying areas had to be used, but now, more beans can be dried directly in the specially designed tunnels. Overall, operations are easier to plan, and the on-site team has more flexibility, which is vital for guaranteeing quality.

After fermentation, the cocoa must be dried evenly and thoroughly to ensure that the beans are suitable for storage. In a region prone to rapid weather change, the expansion of facilities will help maintain the conditions required for consistent quality.

In addition to the expansion in Navarrete, YACAO now also has an export warehouse near Santo Domingo Norte, at the site known as “Kilómetro 18” or “km 18”. The location and accessibility are ideal for centralising cocoa deliveries from Navarrete, El Seibo, Medina and Yamasá. The cocoa will be sorted, inspected, stored and prepared for export in the new warehouse.

Delivery of big bags to the new export warehouse at «Kilómetro 18»

The big bags in the new export warehouse before the racks were installed

The «clasificadora», the sorting machine for cocoa beans, in operation

An important part of this process is already under way: the machine for sorting the cocoa beans, or “clasificadora”, that was previously located in the more rural Medina site, has been operating successfully at Kilómetro 18 for more than a month. Video surveillance and an intruder alarm system have also been fitted. The shelving systems are currently still being set up. Imported specifically for storing big bags filled with cocoa beans, the storage racks are particularly stable and user-friendly, making them well suited to daily operations in the export warehouse.

Once everything is complete, the warehouse will have enough room for 672 big bags, each weighing 1’050 kilograms. Any remaining free space can be fitted with racks at a later date if necessary. This will create a key export hub at Kilómetro 18 with much greater capacity than before. Efforts have also been undertaken to make daily workflows more efficient, including the handling of large deliveries, proper sorting, quality checks and secure storage until shipment.

The «Kilómetro 18» team in Santo Domingo

This makes a real difference to the teams on the ground. Larger quantities are easier to consolidate, each stage in the process becomes clearer, and waiting times can be shortened. This is particularly useful during the busy main harvest period, as it makes it possible to maintain an overview even when handling large volumes and to plan subsequent steps more effectively.

Delvinson Rivas and Rudy van Eijzeren setting up the racks in the new export warehouse

The projects are overseen by Rudy van Eijzeren, who has been working as an external site manager and consultant for YACAO since February 2026. He sees the expansion not just as a construction project, but primarily as a way to improve operations. What routes are created? Where do volumes converge? How do technology, logistics and operations interact?

These links between origins, traditional craftsmanship and high-tech manufacturing are precisely what fascinate him about YACAO and PRONATEC.

«The cocoa travels on a remarkable journey along the value chain – from the plots of smallholder families through the fermentation, drying and grading stages, right through to the production of high-quality semi-finished cocoa products in Europe,» says Rudy. “The current expansion is intended to make this journey even smoother. Having more space is important, but it will only be a sustainable solution in the long term with the right operating processes.”

This year’s main harvest has got off to a good start early on. Based on current estimates, FUNDOPO expects a stable yield of consistent quality. The quantities recorded so far confirm this encouraging outlook. This makes it all the more important to make sure that YACAO is not only able to handle the additional volumes, but can also process them efficiently. The expansion work in Navarrete and at Kilómetro 18 will lay the necessary groundwork.

Cocoa harvest 2026: a successful start and a positive outlook

Through our direct connections with long-standing partners, we create transparency and guarantee full traceability along the whole supply chain. PRONATEC has always been committed to long-term partnerships at the source. Our subsidiary YACAO has been supplying us with high-quality organic and fair trade cocoa from the Dominican Republic for over 25 years. The YACAO team oversees the purchasing, fermentation, drying, quality control and export of the cocoa beans. This takes place in close collaboration with the smallholder organisation FUNDOPO, which was established in 2000. As a purchaser of the entire crop, we are a reliable partner for the affiliated smallholders, which number over 3’500.