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.
In this, the first instalment of our Eye on Emerging Markets series, one of West Africa’s most successful dairy brands, Fan Milk, pinpoints the key to cracking the region - street distribution.
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farming has been a contributor to deforestation and degradation in West Africa due to limited fertilizer use as well as outdated crop husbandry methods, claim two research groups in a newly published study in Environmental Management.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.
