The long-term agreement with Nestlé will include payments for ecosystem services (PES) to more than 6,000 farmers covering 11,500 hectares of agroforestry in Côte d’Ivoire. The implementation of the project is already underway, with three cooperatives...
Cocoa prices posted moderate losses on the New York and London ICE exchanges at the end of last week. May ICE NY cocoa (CCK23) closed down -51 (-1.80%), and May ICE London cocoa #7 (CAK23) closed down -26 (-1.20%) as a stronger dollar sparked long liquidation...
Brazilian cocoa farmers are putting pressure on the government to suspend imports from Cote d’Ivoire over a fear the cargo will also include insects and weed seeds such as Striga weed, putting local cocoa farms at risk.
Conseil du Café-Cacao (CCC), Cote d’Ivoire’s cocoa regulator, has issued a statement that it expects the country’s cocoa exporters to fulfill their contracts despite supply chain issues at ports.
Cocoa exporters in Cote d’Ivoire are reportedly close to defaulting on their contracts due to a lack of beans and urgently need up to 150,000 tonnes to honour their commitments.
Cote d’Ivoire’s cocoa regulator, Conseil du Café Cacao (CCC), has initiated a scheme to distribute electronic cards to cocoa farmers to help track beans from farms to their export ports and ensure the growers are paid a guaranteed price for their produce.
A new study published in IOP Publishing’s journal Environmental Research Letters into the transparency and traceability of cocoa supply chains in Côte d’Ivoire, the world’s largest cocoa producer, claims that less than 45% of cocoa from the country can...
Weakness in global cocoa demand weighed on cocoa prices, barchart.com reported, as modest losses at the end of last week were posted with NY cocoa falling to a 1-month low and London cocoa falling to a five-week low.
Cote d’Ivoire’s cocoa farmers have confirmed that soil moisture on their lands should be sufficient to support the main crop over the next two months, despite the world’s top cocoa producer entering its dry season that lasts until March.
Recent flash flooding in West and Central Africa has hindered Cote d’Ivoire’s transportation of cocoa beans from the farms to the ports and could be the reason for the reduction of cocoa arrivals seen during the first few weeks of the main 2022-23 season...
Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, the world’s largest cocoa-growing countries, have stepped up their pressure on the chocolate industry by threatening to punish companies visiting their farms to estimate harvests, which is a key factor in forecasting the price...
Fresh data released by transparency initiative Trase reveals that cocoa farming swallowed 2.4 million ha of forest in Côte d’Ivoire between 2000 and 2019, an area almost the size of Rwanda. This represents 45% of the total deforestation and forest degradation...
Analysts and traders are keeping a close eye on an ongoing strike by dock workers at San Pedro, one of Cote d’Ivoire’s two main ports, while ICE NY cocoa closed up +72 (+2.96%), and December ICE London cocoa closed up +9 (+0.44%).
The European Union and its partners have announced they’re raising 450 million euros ($442 million) to support Cote d’Ivoire’s push to tackle child labour and deforestation linked to cocoa production, while also improving farmer pay.
The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) wrapped up a successful Partnership Meeting, despite the absence of the two main producer countries, with new commitments announced on making cocoa supply chains more sustainable and achieving more impact in helping farmers...
Magnum’s broader female empowerment programme has got off to a fantastic start following the graduation of the first 198 women. Megan Willis, Head of Sustainable Sourcing at Unilever, Magnum’s owner, gives ConfectioneryNews an update in an exclusive podcast...
Cote d'Ivoire’s National Chocolate & Cocoa Day celebrations in Abidjan earlier this month was backed by Hershey and organised by Conseil du Café-Cacao, the country’s regulatory authority for coffee and cocoa.
With support from the Conseil du Café Cacao (CCC) and Ivoirian Ministry of Agriculture, the the launch took place in in Abidjan. The Livelihoods Ecosystem Advancement Program (LEAP) was co-created by the ECOOKIM cooperative farmers, Mars and Fairtrade...
The International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) 2021 annual report is the first in the organisation's new five-year strategy with the overarching aim to cover 100% of the cocoa supply chain in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana with systems that prevent and address...
The Ghanaian Government has increased the producer price of Cocoa by 21% for the 2022-2023 crop season – and said it will be ready for new EU rules on cocoa imports.
Mars Wrigley has declared that from 2023, 100% of the cocoa purchased for its direct factory operations in Europe will be verified as ‘responsibly sourced cocoa’.
ofi (olam food ingredients), a global leader in naturally good food and beverage ingredients, says it has substantially advanced towards the climate goals stated in its Cocoa Compass sustainability report – but issued a call for the EU to work with other...
Mars Wrigley has claimed significant progress on its Women for Change programme with CARE and key deforestation-free milestones with the release this month of its Cocoa for Generations sustainability report.
Luxury ice cream maker has announced plans to upscale its female empowerment programme in its cocoa supply chain after the successful graduation of its first intakes.
In this exclusive op-ed for ConfectioneryNews by Brett Beach, Co-founder of sustainable chocolate brand Made in Africa (MIA), and Dr Kristy Leissle, a member of CN’s editorial board and the author of numerous books and articles on cocoa and industry politics,...
Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar, has doubled down on the country’s pledge to increase its cocoa production from the present 340,000 tonnes to 500,000 tonnes by 2024.
Cocoa prices closed up on Wednesday (10 August) +35 (+1.48%), and September ICE London cocoa #7 (CAU22) closed up +3 (+0.17%) after support from the sharp sell-off in the dollar, which supported commodity prices in general.
Magnum ice cream has launched an on-the-ground impact programme developed to socially and economically empower the cocoa farming communities in Cote d'Ivoire.
The two world's biggest cocoa producers, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, have announced they are raising the price of their beans to help farmers earn a decent living income.
Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, along with the 35 companies in the Cocoa & Forests Initiative (CFI), have reported progress made towards ending deforestation in the two cocoa-growing countries.
In a row over the impending European Commission’s deforestation law, African smallholder cocoa farmers say European organisations do not speak on their behalf and claim their proposal risks damaging their livelihoods.
A new initiative in Cote d’Ivoire is empowering women to become the producers and marketers of their own cocoa products, shifting value-addition processes to origin countries.
The European Union has held its second Cocoa Roundtable Dialogue with Ghanaian stakeholders to discuss the environmental sustainability of cocoa production, while Cote d’Ivoire says quick compliance with broad legislation may pose challenges.
The network also asks EU to step in and support cocoa farmers with human rights and environmental rights due diligence regulations, as Conseil du Café-Cacao says it will reimburse exporters affected by Living Income Differential payments.
Barry Callebaut has announced it is working with award winning startup Seekewa on a pilot project to increase and diversify the incomes of farmers on the Cocoa Horizons programme.
Cote d’Ivoire has announced it has appointed a senor corporate director from Mars Wrigley to help implement the $400 a tonne Living Income Differential (LID) scheme to increase farmer income and introduced by the country in a joint partnership with Ghana...
Le Conseil du Café Cacao (CCC), Cote d'Ivoire’s cocoa regulatory board, has suspended registering cooperatives’ beans in order to reduce the amount of cocoa stockpiled at ports because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Sales of Cote d’Ivoire’s cocoa crop are the worst in decades, industry sources say, as COVID-19 drives down global demand for chocolate and the controversial Living Income Differential (LID) increases the price of its, and neighbouring Ghana’s, cocoa...
Neighbors set-up a new joint body to improve coordination in research, price setting and the fight against child labour in their respective cocoa industries, the Ivorian government has revealed.
Nestlé has partnered with NGO Earthworm and government agencies on the ground to preserve what is left of the Cavally forest reserve in Côte d’Ivoire. FoodNavigator speaks to Earthworm’s country head Gerome Tokpa to learn more illegal cocoa plantations...
Nestlé has announced a new partnership with Côte d'Ivoire’s Ministry of Water and Forests and the Earthworm Foundation to protect and restore the country’s Cavally forest reserve and enhance the resilience of local communities.
A coalition consisting of 350 environmental, human rights, and good governance NGOs has signed an historic letter outlining steps that the Ghanaian and Ivorian governments must take to encourage sustainable cocoa while supporting farmers and protecting...
During the partial COVID-19 lockdown in Côte d’Ivoire, a sharp rise in child labour was observed. Yet according to the International Cocoa Initiative, it is too early to attribute the increase to the pandemic alone.
Fresh initiative backed by the Ivorian government and chocolate industry aims to jointly tackle root causes of child labor and improve education standards in West African country.
Mars Wrigley has announced a $10m investment to support women’s empowerment in cocoa-growing communities, working with CARE to build on the success and learnings of their Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) initiative.
