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.
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.
Three Malian men have won the right to bring their civil child slavery case against Nestlé, Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) to Californian courts.
The chocolate and cocoa industry has pledged $3m in new funds to global cocoa sustainability as major firms including Mondelez, Hershey and Cargill talk about their new initiatives.
Cocoa certification brings more advantages than disadvantages for farmers and communities as improved yields and pay outweigh rule differences among certifiers and potentially unequal payments, a study has found.
Surging cocoa supplies did little to prevent front month prices for cocoa (cocoa futures) creeping up by 4 per cent throughout August, according to Euromonitor. “The big surprise has been that this rise has taken place on the back of strong supply projections,”...
Global confectionery supplier Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) is injecting US$4.4m (€3m) into its Ivory Coast cocoa programme as the country tries to recover from its recent civil turmoil and an EU ban on one of the region’s most important exports.
Cocoa and chocolate products supplier Barry Callebaut has confirmed reports that it plans to upgrade grinding capacity at one of its cocoa processing plants in Ivory Coast from 105,000 to 175,000 tonnes a year.
Barry Callebaut reports that it has resumed its exports from the Ivory Coast, following the recent resolution of the six-month long political crisis in the West African cocoa powerhouse.
Ivory Coast’s cocoa trade has been normalised, but uncertainly remains about the mid-crop, and and all eyes are now on the weather for the main crop, to be harvested this autumn, notes commodities specialist Rabobank it its latest review.
Ivory Coast cocoa exports are unlikely to resume by this week, said Mintel, in response to reports that the country will start shipping the commodity from the beginning of May.
The food industry and cocoa traders have welcomed the EU decision to lift sanctions on the Ivory Coast ports and other Ivorian entities following an end to the crisis in the cocoa growing country.
Fears that almost 500,000 tonnes of cocoa beans stored in warehouses in the Ivory Coast would deteriorate are now subsiding with the perception that a political resolution is imminent in the cocoa growing country, according to Rabobank
There is still sufficient cocoa available on the market, despite political turmoil in the Ivory Coast situation, the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) said yesterday, although there are concerns over cocoa damage over long storage periods.
Barry Callebaut has a contingency plan in place in light of ongoing Ivory Coast turmoil and has stepped up production at its cocoa processing facilities elsewhere to meet its customers’ needs.
Leading cocoa processor and exporter, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), said it has suspended cocoa plant operations in the Ivory Coast and is shifting production elsewhere, due to heightened political tensions in the West African producer country.
Cocoa prices have remained stable over the past two weeks despite the Ivory Coast export ban with industry analysts citing good industry supply cover and access to plentiful crop from Ghana as factors for the lack of price volatility.
Leading cocoa supplier, Archer Daniel Midlands (ADM), has confirmed that it is keeping its cocoa processing plant in Kumasi, Ghana open in spite of challenges related to acquiring light crop beans for processing.
Leading maker of bulk chocolate, Barry Callebaut, has bought and exported the cocoa beans it needs to fulfill its processing needs, said a company spokesperson in reaction to the suspension of Ivory Coast exports.
Lack of clarity on the implications for the cocoa industry of the financial penalities imposed by the EU on the Ivory Coast has prompted trade representatives in the bloc to seek additional information from the Commission.
Delivery of cocoa bean supplies to ports in the Ivory Coast appears to be unaffected by the recent political turmoil following last month’s election in the West African country.
Rabobank has warned that cocoa prices will respond if there is a return to civil war in the Ivory Coast as this could impede cocoa exports onto the world market.
Olam International is planning to invest $43.5m to build its first, large greenfield cocoa processing plant in the Ivory Coast as well as additional primary processing and warehouse facilities.
Recent cocoa bean price volatility is due in large part to hedge funds attracted by quick returns taking short-term positions on the commodity, according to a leading analyst.
Blommer Chocolate, Petra Foods, and Cemoi Chocolatier have created a joint venture that will establish 30 fermentation centres to improve the supply of high quality, fermented cocoa from the Ivory Coast.
Cocoa futures in New York hit their lowest price since September yesterday on signs of increased production in Ivory Coast, which is the leading global supplier.
Cargill Cocoa and Chocolate is aiming to have 10,000 tonnes of UTZ-certified cocoa available for the market in 2010, as the first two Ivory Coast cooperatives achieve certification and others are expected to get there soon.
Reports last week suggest cocoa production in the Ivory Coast, the world’s largest producer of cocoa, may be one million metric tonnes this year, down from 1.36 million last season.
The Ivory Coast is taking steps to protect its cocoa industry with a plan to improve the quality of its crop which is said to have fallen in standards over the last decade, according to reports.
London cocoa prices hit a 23-year high at the end of December, but emerging questions about consumer demand could see prices fall in 2009, according to the International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO).
Troubles for West African cocoa supplies look set to continue following reports that the harmattan, a harsh, crop-damaging wind, has begun to sweep in from the Sahara.
Cocoa supplies in Ghana, the world's second largest producer of beans, are being hit by smugglers taking the valuable beans abroad as prices crash through the $3000 barrier.
Democrats Tom Harkin and Eliot L. Engel wrote a hard-hitting piece
in the LA Times on Monday about the human cost of the chocolate
trade, but the cocoa industry has hit back by reaffirming its
commitment to responsible farming.
Prices remain steady for cocoa, despite news that the start of the
new cocoa harvesting season from the world's biggest producer,
Ivory Coast, has been delayed due to a dispute.
Hanging as a persistent threat to the chocolate industry witches'
broom disease is capable of wiping out entire cacao crops and
sending the price of chocolate rocketing. Despite ongoing research
into the threat confirmed by the...
War and disease have marked volatile prices for cocoa in the past
three years, peaking at 17 year highs in 2002 when the Ivory Coast
- source of two fifths of the world cocoa crop - endured civil war.
Research into genomes could contribute...
The EU has asked the Ivory Coast, to abolish a law that requires
all cocoa beans to be exported in jute bags. This would mean cocoa
could only be exported in 60 kg or 65 kg bags rather than in bulk.
