There has been a lot of debate lately over the sustainability of cocoa production. On July 7, CNN.com posted a report that started with the following quote by John Mason of the Nature Conservation Research Council: “I think that in 20 years chocolate will be like caviar.” The report goes on to state that yields (cocoa harvested per hectare) are declining all over West Africa and that the new hybrid cocoa trees planted there contribute to soil degradation.
My Anti Anti-Fairtrade Rant
Today, Sameh El-Shahat (I assume a columnist at the UK’s Telegraph) published a rant against fairtrade. I guess, the paper tries to make hay by attacking “holy cows.” Below is the reply I posted in the paper’s comment section. Continue reading “My Anti Anti-Fairtrade Rant”
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.
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”
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”
