Tag: Armajaro

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The Man Who Just Bought 7 Percent of the World’s Cocoa

Anthony Ward, founder and CEO of Armajaro who just took delivery of all that cocoa, gave an interview in January that give some insight into why he bought so much cocoa. He is clearly betting on future shortages and hopes to cash in on the likely profits.

On the other hand there are voices that claim Anthony Ward ended holding the bag (or better over 3 million bags of cocoa) after a deal went wrong. Globe and Mail author Paul Waldie claims that Ward ended up on the “wrong side of a private hedging arrangement with Swiss chocolate-maker Barry Callebaut AG.” On Monday, news surfaced that almost half of the cocoa in question had been passed on to Barry Callebaut. Since then, the London price of cocoa has dropped by almost 6 percent.

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Ghana Eyes Record Crop for 2009-10

Ghana’s Cocoa Growing Region Source: Cadbury

Several reports quote cocoa traders in Ghana who predict a record crop in the current cocoa year. Ali Basma, managing director of Akuafo Adamfo Marketing Company, one of the largest cocoa buyers in the country, predicted that the crop could reach 800,000 tons this year. The head of the COCOBOD, Ghana’s cocoa board, was not as sanguine about the prospects and predicted only that this year’s crop will match the 703,000 tons produced during the last year. Timely deliveries of pesticides and fungicides and less rain are key conditions to keep black pod disease at bay. Black pod disease poses the most serious threat to Ghana and its neighbor’s cocoa crops.

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