The chocolate industry must commit to longer sourcing agreements if it expects farmers to be able to invest in cocoa productivity and quality, according to a leading farming cooperative in Côte d’Ivoire.
The International Cocoa Organization has quelled media reports of a chocolate crisis in 2020 and says there are sufficient cocoa stocks for the next five years.
Despite the growing body of research extolling the health benefits of flavanols found in cocoa, chocolate product manufacturers have yet to fully embrace front-of-pack claims calling out these compounds—with many still opting for more general “antioxidant”...
Corporate sustainability programs do not go far enough to stamp out child labor on cocoa farms - only third party certification will do, says a new campaign.
Cocoa processing is increasingly moving to origin countries, particularly those in regions where chocolate consumption is rising such as Brazil and Indonesia, according to ADM Cocoa’s head of innovation.
Sourcing cocoa from certified farms can minimise incidence of child labour, but if that’s enough, why else should chocolate manufacturers commit to third-party certification?
Rabobank has warned that cocoa prices will respond if there is a return to civil war in the Ivory Coast as this could impede cocoa exports onto the world market.
Participation in ADM’s cocoa growing certification programme - Serap - has tripled since its implementation and it has provided almost 49,000 metric tonnes of sustainable cocoa in the period, said the cocoa processor as it conducts a review of the programme...
North American cocoa bean grind in the second quarter of 2010 again showed double digit gains from the same quarter a year ago, according to data from the US National Confectioners Association (NCA).
Cocoa futures in New York hit their lowest price since September yesterday on signs of increased production in Ivory Coast, which is the leading global supplier.
Strategies for confectionery makers to absorb rocketing price rises
are essential as cocoa prices crash through the $3000 barrier, with
demand outstripping supplies and pulling the stocks-to-grindings
ratio to a 22-year low.
There is a growing demand for cocoa from Latin America to meet the
increasing popularity of premium chocolates in Europe and the US,
according to a speaker at the recent meeting of the World Cocoa
Foundation (WCF) in Ecuador.
Four hybrid cocoa species developed in Ghana to have improved
resistance to pest damage during storage have similar nutritional
properties to conventional cocoa, says a study that topples a
barrier to commercial trade.
While most consumers agree that ethically-sourced cocoa is no bad
thing, an ever increasing number of different schemes risks
muddying the issue and puzzling chocolate fans.
A panel of experts recommend that more countries be
recognised as fine or flavour cocoa producing countries in order to
provide new opportunities for trade.
Agricultural firm Cargill has started construction of a new cocoa
processing facility in Ghana, in an expansion move designed to meet
increasing global demand for cocoa products.
US based cocoa producer Cargill has developed a new method of
processing cocoa which allows for reduced fat content and greater
dispersibility in cocoa powder.
Chocolate giant Mars has filed a lawsuit against Natraceutical,
alleging that the Spanish company is infringing its patents on
polyphenol-rich cocoa extracts by selling CocoanOX extracts in the
United States.
Barry Callebaut has produced a new website entirely devoted to
promoting the nutritional benefits of cocoa in an effort to
counteract the increasingly unhealthy image of chocolate products
and their unpopularity in a health-conscious...
The International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) has revised its gloomy
cocoa estimate of a 5,000 tonne deficit to predict a global surplus
of 80,000 tonnes of cocoa in the coming year, assuring
manufacturers of a steady supply.
Prices for cocoa remain relatively volatile as political unrest in
Ivory Coast, that produces some 40 per cent of global cocoa crops,
keeps the market nervous.
Cocoa prices have leapt in London, driven by fears that instability
in Ivory Coast, that produces some 40 per cent of global crops,
could impact supplies.
War and disease have marked volatile prices for cocoa in the past
three years, peaking at 17 year highs in 2002 when the Ivory Coast
?source of two fifths of the world cocoa crop ?endured civil war.
Research into genomes could contribute...
