Thursday, May 1, 2014

THE MARKET FOR ORGANIC AND FAIR-TRADE COCOA








THE MARKET FOR ORGANIC AND FAIR-TRADE COCOA

Study prepared in the framework of FAO project GCP/RAF/404/GER
Trade and Markets Division

“Increasing incomes and food security of small farmers in West and Central Africa through exports of organic and fair-trade tropical products”

By Ellen Pay


FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
Rome, 2009


Source - http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/organicexports/docs/Market_Organic_FT_Cocoa.pdf


THE WORLD MARKET FOR COCOA

OVERVIEW

According to FAO, worldwide imports of cocoa beans, processed cocoa products and products containing cocoa reached 9.3 million tonnes in 2007, up by an average 6 percent annually over the course of the past decade.

In value terms, worldwide imports of cocoa beans, processed cocoa products and products containing cocoa fell to a low in the late 1990s, reflecting the overall global trend in prices for agricultural commodities. Since then, the value of worldwide imports has increased continuously, from US$11.4 billion in 2000 to US$28.3 billion in 2007, representing an average annual growth rate of nearly 14 percent. Products containing cocoa account for nearly two fifths of worldwide cocoa imports in value terms, followed by cocoa beans (22 percent), cocoa butter (12 percent), cocoa paste (5 percent), and cocoa powder (4 percent).

According to Eurostat data, imports of cocoa beans, processed cocoa products (cocoa paste, butter and powder) and chocolate into the European Union stood at 1.98 million tonnes in 2008, up by an average 4 percent annually over the period 1999–2008. In value terms, imports totalled 3.97 billion euro, up by an average 6 percent over the period. Meanwhile, imports of cocoa beans, processed cocoa products (cocoa paste, butter and powder) and chocolate into the United States stood at 1.11 million tonnes in 2008, up by an average 3 percent annually since 1999. In value terms, imports reached US$3.3 billion in 2008, representing an average annual growth rate of 9 percent over the period 1999–2008 (USDA-FAS).

The United States has traditionally relied upon European imports to supply its market for processed cocoa products. In 2007, however, NAFTA members Mexico and Canada accounted for two thirds of total imports of cocoa products into the United States, reflecting the chocolate industry trend of American plants relocating to Canada or Mexico, where manufacturing costs are lower.1 (ERS-USDA (2009)