In this business, a tidy plantation is a profitable plantation and management is about new tree planting (they don't propagate naturally), mould control, canopy opening for sunlight and forest floor clearance. The whole seed to harvest process is complex and requires careful control and management to ensure a healthy and profitable crop. Therefore ensuring that plantations are protected from unwanted disturbances such as local tribal gangs, criminals and political interference is crucial.
In this instance the security solution came from a careful management plan that ensured that at all stages of the programme, produce, plant and people were protected to ensure maximum output with minimum or no disruption. The stock inventory was also monitored at a London base to ensure ongoing tracking and management of quantities and conditions were recorded.
A key part of the operation was to ensure that employees from the plantations were given formal off-the-job training to ensure that they were fully briefed on the programme and complied with the procedures, without fear of inappropriate influence from local groups.
In the six months from beginning October 2004, the security team controlled the client's cocoa bean inventory of $30 million, without losing one.
