CRA Ltd.
The Cocoa Research Association (CRA) Ltd. was established in 1973 to manage a Trust Fund set up by the late John Cadbury to support cocoa research, especially work carried out in Trinidad. Up until 2008, CRA Ltd. was administered by the UK Biscuit, Cake, Chocolate and Confectionery Association (BCCCA) and the income from its Trust Fund was used to complement the BCCCA's cocoa research programme. When the members of BCCCA decided to wind-up that association, it was agreed that its cocoa research programme should be transferred to CRA Ltd. In September 2008, CRA Ltd. took over BCCCA's existing cocoa research commitments and now administers the contributions from cocoa processors, chocolate manufacturers and the cocoa trade to support this ongoing research and future projects which are capable of benefiting cocoa growing throughout the world.
"Supporting the global effort to develop better planting materials for farmers and advance our knowledge towards the sustainable growing of cocoa"
CRA's long-term support for the germplasm conservation and utilisation activities at the Cocoa Research Centre (CRC) of the University of the West Indies in Trinidad have been contributing to the global breeding effort since its inception. CRA's reputation for research related to cocoa genetic resources was further strengthened when it took over key projects formerly supported by the BCCCA, including the International Cocoa Quarantine Centre and the International Cocoa Germplasm Database projects at the University of Reading, in addition to a substantial contribution to the research at CRC. These projects are supported by CRA’s Core Supporters.
CRA is leading the effort to broaden the base of industry funding to support these resources in partnership with the leading global research-for-development organization, Bioversity International, and WCF. Additional support for the ICG,T and IC3 International Cocoa Genebanks is provided by contributors to CRA’s Conservation Initiative...find out more here
Although on-going commitments to these projects account for a very large part of its research funding, CRA also funds shorter projects, including support for post-graduate students, contributes to international collaborative projects and supports initiatives to help coordinate genetics/breeding research, such as CacaoNet and INGENIC.
CRA, and its predecessor BCCCA, have supported numerous projects which have contributed to our knowledge of cocoa pests and diseases, and improved technologies for cocoa growing. Our main focus is currently on the conservation, characterisation, cataloguing and distribution of cocoa genetic resources as essential parts of the pipeline to improved planting materials for farmers.
Core Contributors
Additional Support for the Conservation Initiative
Contributions have previously been received from Guittard Chocolate, Ofi, and Whittaker's Chocolate.