Author: Michael

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Côte d’Ivoire begins Cocoa Sector Cleanup

Readers of this blog will remember my earlier post on the corruption in the Ivorian cocoa sector. Well documented in Carol Off’s book, the key institutions put in place after the 2000 liberalization of the cocoa sector (the BCC – Bourse du Café et du Cacao, the FDPCC – Fonds de Développement et de Promotion des Activités des Producteurs de Café et de Cacao – and the FRC – Fonds the Régulation et Control) were quickly turned into corrupt institutions that served to enrich a small elite surrounding president Laurent Gbagbo.

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Robert Steinberg dies

This seems to be the week to report on the deaths of chocolate makers. I just heard that Robert Steinberg, founder of Scharffen Berger Chocolates, died of cancer last week . Those interested in good chocolate know, of course, that Scharffen Berger was among the first endeavors to bring good chocolate to the market in the U.S. I finally had a chance to tour their factory just last May. But I actually knew him personally.

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Klaus Jacobs dies

Growing up in Germany, my favorite chocolate bar was Suchard Milka, either in the milk chocolate, the chocolate-hazelnut, or the noisette flavor. Birthdays and visits of relatives were always occasions to get a new stash of Suchard. But these did not last very long. The first bar usually disappeared within a few minutes after I got it. I would just sneak away from the commotion created by arriving relatives, tear into a bar and wolf down a few pieces. Thinking about it now, I must have displayed all the signs of an addict getting his fix.

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Cocoa Prices in Perspective

The recent increases in cocoa prices–the thirty year high in July for example–mask what has been, in effect, a secular decline in cocoa prices adjusted for inflation. Author Thomas Lines finally put numbers to something I’ve known for some time. When observers speak of all time high cocoa prices, they simply compare current prices, that is, prices listed 30 years ago and today without taking into consideration inflation.

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