Our journey begins in the nursery, the cradle of our future Agroforest. Here, we nurture young cacao seedlings and a variety of companion plants. Using only organic inputs and using locally adapted seed from our strongest trees ensures that each plant is robust and ready to flourish once transplanted into the dynamic agroforestry system.

With care, we integrate cacao trees with a diverse mixture of other species. Fast-growing plants like bananas, cassava, and turmeric are planted alongside to protect the cacao trees by casting an immediate shade, protecting young seedlings from direct sunlight, and suppressing excessive grass growth.

At the same time, we introduce native or local, long-lived tree species for a longer-term canopy cover as the cacao matures. This approach mimics natural forest structures. And lastly, we add the dynamic element, which are the trees selected for their ability to generate large amounts of organic matter when pruned, creating a regenerative agroecology that supports biodiversity, enriches soil fertility, and thrives with management.

In our dynamic agroforestry system, regular pruning is core to the optimisation of sunlight exposure, improving air circulation, and encouraging healthy plant growth. Pruning is our most important task as managers of the agroecosystem, as pruned branches and leaves return to the soil as organic mulch, enriching the soil and stimulating fresh and healthy regrowth. Pruning acts like fertilizer in dynamic agroforestry systems.

We employ various pruning techniques to ensure a balanced and productive ecosystem that supports plant health and soil vitality:

Heavy pruning: Significantly reduces a plant's size by removing large branches or cutting back to the main trunk, rejuvenating overgrown plants, and stimulating new growth. Cacao trees can be productive for nearly a century with several cycles of heavy pruning to restore their vigour.

Light pruning: Involves the selective removal of small, tangled, dead, or diseased branches to maintain the plant's health and appearance, opening up the tree to sunlight and airflow. This occurs several times a year and is vital to keeping cacao healthy so that organic growing is possible.

Water sprout pruning: Targets the removal of vigorous, vertical shoots emerging from the trunk or branches that can divert energy away from fruiting.

Pruning of support plants: All the other plants serve the cacao plants, and we prune them to assist the cacao, either by trimming the canopy to allow in the correct amount of light, to bring down organic matter to feed the soil or to mound up compost to breed the midges that pollinate cacao flowers.

Protecting the health of our cacao trees and the ecology around them is essential, as healthy trees, soils, and ecosystems keep pests and diseases in check.

We employ a multi-tiered approach to plant health, starting with using locally adapted seed, careful pruning and sanitation, microclimates that suit the cacao plant, surrounding it with supporting species, and linking natural forest corridors for wildlife.

We operate a biopesticide research team whose task is to monitor, report, and respond to acute outbreaks of the worst pests of cacao using effective organic solutions. If flare-ups occur in pests due to factors like abnormal weather, we also incorporate life-based solutions, derived from natural materials like local herbal extracts, natural soap, predatory bacteria, and fungi, as well as mineral additions, to strengthen our pest control systems.
Growing cacao organically is essential for the health of the workers, our Papua land, and consumers of our products.

Our biopesticide team is leading the way for the discovery of integrated pest control options using locally abundant resources in West Papua. Our goal is to showcase the viability of organic cacao cultivation at scale, with minimal dependence on imported inputs.

Keeping our environment and trees clean is essential for the health and well-being of our production. Regular sanitation includes removing diseased or dead plant material, preventing the spread of pathogens, and ensuring the vitality of our agroforestry system. This practice protects the health of both cacao trees and companion species.

In our dynamic agroforestry system, every plant is useful, and there is no such thing as a true weed. Every plant that converts sunlight into organic matter feeds the ecology and provides opportunities for our cacao trees' nutrition.

However, effective vine and grass management is essential to enable easy access, correct shading, and the right conditions for plant health.
We are committed to only organic means of vegetation management, which includes regular grass cutting, pruning, and manual inspection of trees to remove any competition.

Such work is diminishing over time, as the more developed the agroforestry becomes, the less grass and vines we have. Rainforest support plants shade them out and are then the source of fertilizing mulch for the cacao trees.

The culmination of our efforts is evident in the quality of our product, and is very reliant on the harvesting process. We carefully manage our trees so that they receive the full 6 months that it takes a cacao flower to ripen into a fruit. We select ripe cacao pods at their peak, ensuring the procurement of the finest quality beans.

We are continuously analysing our production and processing chain for ways to improve the quality of our beans and the well-being of our staff.

This rigorous approach is key to the ongoing health and productivity of our cacao trees and guarantees the exceptional flavour that this region (Ransiki) is known for, evidenced by the IG certification.