FARM2FORK

data solutions

Data Science with a human face

Turning waste into value, data into trust, and every pod into opportunity.

From farm to fork: we bring together cutting‑edge technologies, ethical and secure data sharing that make crops commodity value‑chain transparent, fair and sustainable.

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Food Quality

Full Traceability

Consumer Choice

Farmer Income

Reduced Waste

Carbon Footprint

Our Commitment & Support

Our Commitment to Sustainable Development Goals

17 GOALS | Sustainable Development

The Cacao-Tech project has indirectly received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation action programme, via the DRG4FOOD – Open Call #2 issued and executed under the DRG4FOOD project (Grant Agreement no. 101086523).

Who We Are

Mission:

We apply data science to improve the quality of food, life, and work — empowering farmers, reducing waste, and building trust.

Vision:

A future where transparent, consent‑based data sharing connects farmers, markets, and consumers for better products, fair trade, and a healthier planet.

Building transparent, fair and future‑ready commodity value‑chains

We bring together scientists and industry partners to tackle long‑standing challenges in the food industry. Cacao‑Tech works to make cacao production more transparent, sustainable, and beneficial for everyone by combining science, technology, and ethics to create lasting impact.

Meet the Team

Sabine Desczka

Senior Research Coordinator

Specialist in impact investment and sustainable finance for agriculture. In Cacao‑Tech, Sabine highlights how data creates real value — reducing waste, increasing farmer income, and building more sustainable food systems.

Marika van Santvoort

Founder

She leads the business and market component, transforming cacao pulp into high‑value products, reducing waste, and creating new opportunities for farmers through circular economy solutions.

Jana Kholova

Researcher

Expert in digital transformation of cropping systems and crop improvement. Jana leads the implementation of GDPR, FAIR and novel data principles (DRGs) across the cacao value chain, ensuring data ethics and transparency.

Our journey starts in the cacao fields.

This is where our solutions meet the farmers needs, we listen the their stories, and experience firsthand how cacao is grown and processed. These ground-realities are reflected in the tech-solutions – that is where science and technology connects with people to create fair, sustainable and transparent value-chain.

This is the way of cacao

Marika van Santvoort

Entrepreneur

Expert in cacao market - advocate for circular economy

Check how to communicate impactfuly

This is how we landed the feet on the ground in Ecuador

Our Products

From Farm to Fork – Verified quality, transparency, cybersecurity, privacy, FAIR data, trustworthy AI. We combine instant on‑farm quality control with full product traceability, ensuring every batch is tested, documented and trusted.

CacaoTech360

Information tracking / tracing

Functions:

Information tracking–tracing system customized for users requirements
Real world implementation of cutting-edge data principles and ethics (GDPR, FAIR, DRG)

Benefits

Verified produce origin and certification
Connects from farmer up to consumer
Cybersecurity and full transparency

Key innovations

GDPR compliance and user privacy
FAIR data and DPP compliance
Future-proof design
Decentralized architecture, customizable and development-ready
Can ingest QC-tech data

Technical Documentation

QCtech360

Quality Control at farm gate

Functions:

Rapid, automated assessment of cacao quality at the farm gate

Benefits

Non-destruction, objective quality assessment by portable NIRS-sensor
Waste reduction
Time- and cost-efficiency
Immutable data

Key innovations

Trustworthy AI models
Continuous learning loops
Rapid adaptability for other uses
Works off-line
Interoperable with CacaoTech360 or other tracking-tracing solutions

Technical Documentation QCtech360 - model runner QCtech360 - model example [535MB] Cacao dataset

How they work together

Digital Responsibility & Data Ethics

Data ethics is at the core of everything we do.

Our digital solutions are driven by cutting‑edge data science and built on GDPR, FAIR principles, and Digital Responsibility Goals (DRGs).

This is how we applied the data principles in the cacao industry

Digital literacy: explained to farmers and organizations what digital responsibility means. Communicating DRGs
Cybersecurity: bottom-up data management stored in a secure database.
Privacy & GDPR: farmers give informed consent to data sharing, always under their control.
FAIR principles: future-proof data structures aligned with upcoming legislation (EUDR, DPP).
Automation: no manual entry, no tampering — data captured automatically.
Scalability: rapid ingestion of new datasets for new value chains.
Transparency & value for farmers: showed what cacao quality means for industry and why sharing data matters.

“Biology to technology - plant to data”

Jana Kholova

Scientist

Expert in plant biology, technology and ICT

Data concepts in practice generate value:

We turn abstract data into real, measurable benefits across the cacao value chain:

10% more of cacao fruit converted to product, 65kg cacao required for laboratory tests saved per exported lot

Avoid waste

Create income from pulp

~75% small cacao producers can access mainstream market

Empower smallholders

1kg of cacao production generates ~1.4kg CO2-equivalent emissions, waste reduction can avoid ~10% CO2 emissions

Cut carbon footprint

Protect ecosystems

New type of jobs using hi-tech more attractive for upcoming generation

Attract youth to farming

“This is how data science translates into fairness, sustainability, and resilience — from farm to fork.”

Sabine Desczka

Scientist

Expert in socio‑economics, impact and value‑chain analytics

Value Chain Analysis

Let’s stay connected

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If you’d like to reach us directly, here are the ways to connect:

Email: info@cacaotech.eu
Address: Czech University of Life Sciences Prague
Kamycka 129, 165 00 Praha 6 Suchdol
Czech Republic

We’re always happy to hear from farmers, partners, and anyone passionate about cacao.