The 2023 annual Bougainville Chocolate Festival is scheduled for the 26 to 28 September at the Hutjena Oval in Buka.
It will be the largest event since the inaugural festival in 2016.
The theme of this year’s festival is “Innovation and Information Sharing to Empower Farmers.” A series of activities will explore and showcase innovative ideas, knowledge and information through the festival’s demonstrations, competitions and seminar presentations.
ABG Minister for Primary Industries, Geraldine Paul, said the festival is an opportunity to celebrate Bougainville’s cocoa production which has grown over the last few years, making Bougainville the biggest producer of cocoa in PNG.
This growth has stimulated economic opportunities across the cocoa value chain from household farmers to traders and exporters.
Bougainville cocoa is recognised around the world as a high-quality product. The Chocolate Festival celebrates this and aims to elevate the reputation and quality of Bougainville cocoa to even greater heights.
More than 5,000 farmers across Bougainville will have the opportunity to participate in forums that promote improved industry processes and standards to drive higher quality and quantities of cocoa. The festival highlight will be the chocolate competition where international chocolatiers judge, classify and showcase local Bougainvillean award-winning cocoa beans.
Australian High Commission representative, Dr Anthony Mason, said the festival is part of Australia’s commitment to support economic development in Bougainville. Through targeted support and grants to cocoa producers, small-holder cooperatives are supported to improve the quality and quantity of cocoa production.
“We recognize the increasing enthusiasm and participation of farmers across Bougainville and see the wider benefits they will receive from the festival’s demonstrations, chocolate competitions, and presentations. As a result, we have increased our support to enable the festival to be held for three days in 2023,” Dr Mason said