Coronavirus crisis affects European cocoa grinds

Coronavirus-crisis-affects-European-cocoa-grinds.jpg
ECA reports a decline in European cocoa grind figures Pic: ConfectioneryNews

Cocoa grinding figures across Europe, the indicator of the demand for cocoa for chocolate and confectionery production, declined in the 3rd quarter of 2020 by 4.7% on the same period the previous year, the European Cocoa Organization (ECA) reports.

Its figures reveal 345,730 t of raw cocoa were ground across Europe, and the decline has been noted by the Association of the German Confectionery Industry (BDSI) that reported figures from its 11 companies using cocoa ground a total of 93,355.1 t in the third quarter of 2020.

This means a decrease of 9.7% compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year, but the decline is not as steep as the double-digit decline in the 2nd quarter of 2020 (16.3%).

The reduction in cocoa grinding has been attributed to the coronavirus crisis, with sales channels at airports and also the affect of less exports of German confectionery and chocolate goods.