Cargill says it is investing over $113m to expand its cocoa processing sites in Yopougon, Côte d'Ivoire, and Tema, Ghana – while increasing its ‘Cocoa Promise’ in the two countries.
Funds from FMO Bank will support the addition of new lines for instant cocoa powder, ready-to-drink chocolate and chocolate-based spreads from the Ghanaian-owned chocolate producer.
World for Brexit (W4B) specifically calls out cocoa tariffs on its homepage, but FullFact.org – and World Trade Organization data – refutes the alleged 30% duty.
Retail value sales of chocolate confectionery in West African countries, like Nigeria and Cameroon, have experienced steady growth over the past five years, according to Euromonitor International.
Future cocoa demand will be met by a thriving professionalized sector in Latin America as chocolate makers move away from a “structurally blighted” West African market, claims Hardman Agribusiness.
The Food Empowerment Project has called on US chocolate makers to list cocoa country of origin on pack so consumers can avoid brands that use cocoa from West Africa, where it claims unlawful child labor is common.
Cocoa Ingredients supplier Transmar has called on cocoa and chocolate companies to make a donation to the Red Cross or Caritas to combat the spread of the Ebola virus in West Africa.
ConfectioneryNews asks industry leaders if cocoa production will gradually move closer to the burgeoning chocolate markets of China and Brazil or whether West Africa will always be the king of cocoa.
Hershey has launched an initiative to double the cocoa output in Nigeria, which is forecast to register a 20% decline this crop year due to adverse weather and diseases.
Singapore-based ingredients firm Olam has acquired Nigerian biscuit and candy maker Titanium Holding Company for $167M as it looks to seize upon the developing African market.
Cocoa farming has been a contributor to deforestation and degradation in West Africa due to limited fertilizer use as well as outdated crop husbandry methods, claim two research groups in a newly published study in Environmental Management.
The recent Ghana-Liberia agriculture pact is unlikely to have a major impact on the global cocoa industry; whereas Nigeria is a region to watch, according to Euromonitor.
A novel cocoa cultivation method and a new approach to fermentation are resulting in cocoa beans with enhanced quality, claims industrial chocolate supplier, Barry Callebaut.
With a larger crop and only modest growth in use, prices are expected to fall in 2011, according to Rabobank in its latest Agri Commodity market report. However further escalation of conflict in the Ivory Coast could send cocoa prices higher.
A confectionery association has joined forces with the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) to improve the lot of cocoa growing communities in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana and help ensure a sustainable supply.
Government officials in Ghana have announced plans to transform the country’s shea nut production to echo the success of its cocoa industry, according to reports.
