Author: Michael

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Bonuses for Cocoa Farmers in Ghana

Over the past week, several sources reported that the Ghanian Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) released a second round of bonuses to cocoa farmers. According to the Joy Online, a total of GH¢16,035,161.35 (about $16.45 million) will be released to the Licensed Buying Companies for distribution to individual farmers. The amount translates to about GH¢1.71 ($1,75) per bag of cocoa. That does not seem much but for a country with an per capita income of $2,700 and many cocoa farmers making less than that, $1.75 per bag bonus makes a difference.

It is not clear, though, if that bonus is simply the high world market prices trickling down to the farmers. Much of the cocoa has already been sold in forward contracts and the current spot market prices apply to only a fraction of the cocoa sold. An more likely explanation is the election campaign going on in Ghana at the moment. The current president, John Kufuor, and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) came to power in 2004 and their term is up this December.

Continue reading “Bonuses for Cocoa Farmers in Ghana”

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New EU Directive on Pesticides

A new European Union directive on the minimum residue levels (MRL) of pesticides on cocoa beans takes effect on September 1, 2008. Starting that date, cocoa beans that surpass that level will be rejected. Cocoa farmers who use pesticides (and that is the vast majority in the world) will have to learn how to apply the proper pesticides in the proper amounts, warned the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) yesterday. Continue reading “New EU Directive on Pesticides”

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The Largest Chocolate Maker You Never Heard Of

Yesterday, Barry Callebaut released its sales figures for the first nine months of the current fiscal year. By all measures, it was a successful period. Sales volume amounted to 872993 metric tonnes of chocolate, a growth rate of 10 percent which the company claims is three times the growth rate of the global chocolate market as a whole. In its press release, the company also reported an 18.6 percent growth in sales revenue. Its chief growth areas were Europe and the Americas with Asia and the rest of the world lagging behind.

So who are these folks that are expanding at a time of record high cocoa prices and a global economic down turn? Continue reading “The Largest Chocolate Maker You Never Heard Of”

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“Cioccolato Puro” in Court

Here’s another chapter in the label wars. In the U.S., we know all about industry power when it comes to food labels – GMO food is not labeled, country of origin is usually not on the label but dairies that don’t process milk from cows treated with rGBH have to put a disclaimer on their product telling the buyer that there is no difference between their milk and that from treated cows. The Europeans usually have been a bit more enlightened about labelling, at least when it comes to GMO and hormones. But they have their own label problems. Continue reading ““Cioccolato Puro” in Court”

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Mars to Sequence Cocoa Genome

The news outlets today were all in a tizzy about the announcement by Mars, the USDA and IBM of a five year project to sequence and analyze the cocoa genome. Many of these articles started out with the line “To save chocolate lovers from the agony of a potential candy bar shortage …” (Washington Post). Others, like Mars’ global director of plant science Shapiro, invoked the fate of the African cocoa farmers, claiming that the results of the project would bring economic stability to those farmers by making cocoa more pest and disease resistant. So it’s all about doing science in the name of the greater humanitarian good. Oh, and also to keep chocolate lovers happy. Continue reading “Mars to Sequence Cocoa Genome”