Packed schedule for 1,000 participants at WCC3

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London, 11 May 2016–About 1,000 participants from 60 countries are expected at the third edition of the World Cocoa Conference, scheduled to take place from Sunday, 22 May to Wednesday 25 May at the Barceló Bávaro Convention Center in Bávaro, Dominican Republic.

The Conference, which will be accompanied by an adjacent Exhibition, will include 24 panel sessions and about 140 moderators, presenters and panellists looking at all of the most important issues in cocoa and chocolate. Included among the many topics will be tracks on the future of cocoa production, advances in markets and trading, and strengthening sustainability in the sector.

To be opened in the presence of His Excellency Mr. Danilo Medina Sánchez, President of the Dominican Republic, the Conference will also include remarks by government ministers from five countries, keynote presentations from some of the largest chocolate manufacturers and cocoa processors in the world, and discussions with some of the top experts in the entire cocoa and chocolate value chain.

Crucial to that value chain are the cocoa farmers, who will be the main focus of a special day-long Producers’ Forum on 22 May, and farmers from all of the world’s major producing countries are already set to take part in all aspects of the Conference.

The increasingly significant role of women in the cocoa industry is also to be highlighted by a special networking function organized with partner NGO Solidaridad on 23 May, and another side event, in conjunction with the organization Direct Cacao, aims to share knowledge and increase business for high quality cocoa and chocolate at a forum dedicated to the highly valued fine and flavour cocoa (on 26 May).

Just announced for Conference attendees is another highlight, an in-depth seminar on the role and functioning of the cocoa futures markets, from an experienced and expert viewpoint.

The wide-ranging event will serve as the gathering place for the whole world’s cocoa and chocolate sector during the final week in May, as the Conference immediately precedes the International Cocoa Council’s meeting of Member countries of the ICCO.

The bi-annual Conference, to be held for the first time in the Western Hemisphere, is taking place with the generous assistance of the Government of the Dominican Republic and the Comisión Nacional del Cacao.

For updated information on the Third World Cocoa Conference, including the latest programme and details of how to attend, please visit the event website www.worldcocoaconference.org.

Regular updates, with news and the latest images from the Conference, will be available on the ICCO’s Twitter channel, using the hashtag #worldcocoaconference16.

ICCO joins appeal for Ecuador earthquake recovery

London, 20 April 2016–The Executive Director wishes to express his sincere condolences on behalf of the International Cocoa Organization to the Government of Ecuador and its people, following the devastating earthquake that hit the country on 16 April 2016.

This disaster has resulted in numerous fatalities and injuries as well as unprecedented destruction, affecting much of the national infrastructure.

The ravaged areas include some of the most important cocoa producing areas in the country and hundreds of farmers’ lives have been shattered by its effects.

The Government has responded with a rescue and replenishment programme for the delivery of much needed supplies to the affected areas, but it estimates that it will take years for the country to recover from this terrible event.

A special fund for international assistance and donations to help with the recovery process in Ecuador has been set up under the Crowdfunder domain: http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/sos-ecuador/. If preferred, donations can also be made through the Ecuadorian Embassy’s bank account in the United Kingdom:

Account Name:            Embajada de Ecuador

Account number:         01079078

Sort code:                    23-47-36

IBAN:                            GB89BBVA23473601079078

SWIFT:                          BBVAGB2L

The Organization would like to show its firm support to Ecuador, being a long-standing and important Member country, by making a contribution to the Fund, in order to assist in the recovery process, and would also encourage all Member countries and Observer Countries, as well as our partners in the cocoa and chocolate industry, to donate to the recovery fund.

 

Papua New Guinea joins the International Cocoa Agreement 2010

Papua New Guinea on 21 April 2016 signed the International Cocoa Agreement 2010, the United Nations Treaty Section has confirmed.

Click here to see the official notification of signature to the Agreement from the United Nations.

Pictured: H.E. Mr. Rupa Mulina, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Permanent Mission of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea

International Cocoa Council and subsidiary bodies, 26 – 28 May 2016, Bávaro, Dominican Republic

The International Cocoa Council and subsidiary bodies, including the Consultative Board on the World Cocoa Economy, as well as the Economics and Administration and Finance Committees, will meet at the Bávaro Convention Center, Bávaro, Dominican Republic, 26 – 28 May 2016, immediately following the Third World Cocoa Conference, to be held at the same location.

Provisional Timetable of Meetings, 26 – 28 May 2016, Bávaro, Dominican Republic

ED(MEM) 1000-Rev.1
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Arrangements for the May 2016 meetings

ED(MEM) 1001
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International Cocoa Council: Draft Agenda

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Administration and Finance Committee: Draft Agenda

AF-9-1-Rev.1
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EC-7-1
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Consultative Board on the World Cocoa Economy: Draft Agenda

CB-32-1
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World Cocoa Conference adds three events to its programme

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London, 19 February 2016 – As part of the World Cocoa Conference, set for 22 – 25 May at the Barceló Bávaro Convention Center in Bávaro, Dominican Republic, three extra events will enrich the programme of the world’s largest cocoa gathering, the ICCO has just announced.

Immediately prior to the opening of the Conference, in a full-day session on Sunday 22 May, the Cocoa Producers’ Forum will encourage cocoa farmers from all over the world to get together, share experiences and harmonize their ideas in advance of the more formal business and technical sessions. Farmers representing the major cocoa growing regions are due to attend, and the meeting is free of charge to all farmers participating in the World Cocoa Conference.

Working with the international civil society organization Solidaridad, the ICCO is organizing the Women in Cocoa networking event, aimed to get women in the cocoa value chain better connected, and to strengthen networks. The fast-paced event will include short informal presentations, round tables with ‘speed dating’ for participants and demonstrations of food and cocoa products. The event is scheduled for the evening of Monday, 23 May, and will be open free of charge to all registered female participants at the Conference.

Last but not least, and taking place on Thursday, 26 May, immediately after the conclusion of the Conference main sessions, the day-long Fine or Flavour Cocoa Forum is being held to bring together all the participants in the fine or flavour part of the cocoa community. Cocoa growers, exporters and chocolate industry representatives (from the smallest chocolatiers to the large players), are most welcome to attend the Forum, which is being co-organized by the ICCO with direct trade fine cacao organization Direct Cacao. Once again, the Forum is free of charge to registered participants at the Conference.

All of these events are in addition to the main Conference, which runs from the official opening of the Exhibition on the afternoon of Sunday, 22 May to the final Gala Dinner on the evening of Wednesday, 25 May. Already hundreds of delegates have registered for the Conference, which will gather all parts of the cocoa value chain to Bávaro. Hosted by the Government of the Dominican Republic, the event will be officially opened by the country’s President, H E Mr. Danilo Medina Sánchez, and addressed by senior representatives of cocoa producing and consuming country governments, as well as cocoa farmers from around the world, and over 100 speakers and panellists from the cocoa trade, the cocoa and chocolate industry, civil society and ancillary businesses.

For more details of the World Cocoa Conference, including the three extra events, and details of accommodation at discounted rates at the adjacent all-incusive hotels, please click on the logo below to visit the Conference website.

Response to the Open Letter from the International Cocoa Farmers Organization

4 February 2016

Dear Mr. Sako Warren

Thank you for your open letter of 2 February.

We would remind you that the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) represents all stakeholders in the cocoa value chain, and as such, is prepared to cooperate with any actors in that chain. The objective of giving genuine cocoa farmers a stronger voice in the global conversation about the cocoa value chain, started in ICCO long before the ICCFO was established. This culminated in the Best Cocoa Farmer Award, designed by the ICCO and presented for the first time in Amsterdam at the second World Cocoa Conference in June 2014.

The programme of the upcoming World Cocoa Conference in the Dominican Republic has a Farmers Forum lasting a full day, to which all cocoa farmers are invited. This will take place on Sunday 22 May and all cocoa farmers can participate as long as they are registered participants to the ICCO’s World Cocoa Conference. Farmers are already coming from all over the world to participate in the Conference, including in several sessions of the main Conference that are specifically aimed at them and at their issues and concerns.

I suggest that you join us, rather than piggybacking on our established event with a competing conference of your own, a day before ours, for which you are charging participants a registration fee and soliciting sponsorship. This, in my view, is a deplorable and unfair practice, and is against the interests both of the ICCO and of the cocoa sector in general.

However, your members are welcome to join us at the World Cocoa Conference, and, doing so, would be able to speak to all parts of the value chain, not just to other farmers. That way, we can make progress on the serious issues arising in the cocoa sector.

We want to bring together all the different parts of the cocoa chain, very much including farmers, in order to achieve the ambitious goals that we have of making the whole chain more sustainable and of bringing benefits for all, but especially for the farmers.

Yours sincerely

Dr. Jean-Marc Anga
Executive Director
International Cocoa Organization (ICCO)

Madagascar joins the International Cocoa Agreement 2010

Madagascar-signing-29-12-2015--1451429669808-DSC_2011Madagascar on 29 December 2015 signed the International Cocoa Agreement 2010 and provisionally applied it, the United Nations Treaty Section has confirmed.

Click here to see the official notification of signature to the Agreement from the United Nations.

Pictured: Mr. H.E. Mr. Zina Andrianarivelo, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of Madagascar signs the International Cocoa Agreement 2010 at United Nations headquarters in New York

Peru conferences raise awareness of fine or flavour cocoa

In mid-October, the ICCO’s Director of Economics and Statistics Mr. Laurent Pipitone took part in a series of conferences across Peru aimed at raising awareness about opportunities in the international market for fine or flavour cocoa.

Peru’s cocoa production has doubled in the past five years to over 80,000 tonnes in the 2014/2015 season, and the country’s output is expected to continue to surge in the coming years. However, while the country has traditionally been a large fine or flavour cocoa producer, most of the recent increase was the result of new plantations of conventional cocoa. This development has led to the need to review and discuss with the various local stakeholders the country’s cocoa strategy in terms of market opportunities and profitability, in the short and long terms.

Pictured: The ICCO’s Laurent Pipitone makes a presentation in Lima (above); The Peru Cocoa Alliance Conference at Pucallpa, Ucayali (below); Peru Cocoa Alliance Director Jose Iturrios Padilla and his team with Jose Isuiza and Laurent Pipitone (bottom)

The series of conferences, entitled ‘New tendencies on the international cocoa market: opportunities for Peru as a fine flavour cocoa producer’ was organized by the Peru Cocoa Alliance, an initiative supporting Peruvian cocoa growers, supported by USAID. The conferences aimed to inform Peruvian policymakers, cocoa growers, investors and international cooperation representatives about global cocoa market developments and to demonstrate the opportunities for Peru to produce fine or flavour cocoa for specialized international markets.

Over a period of four days, Mr. Pipitone visited a number of different areas of the country. The first stop was Pucallpa, Ucayali, where he saw the fine or flavour cocoa fields using agroforestry systems in San Martin de Mojaral, Campos Verdes. Mr. Pipitone and the Alliance’s Director Mr. José Iturrios interviewed field owner, Mr. José Isuiza, who explained why he decided to invest in fine or flavour cocoa with the Peru Cocoa Alliance team.

After a press conference with 35 journalists, Mr. Pipitone participated in a conference at Ucayali River Hotel, with Regional Governor, Mr. Manuel Gambini and regional government representatives in attendance. After the conference, at a lunch with investors, Mr. Pipitone met representatives of regional authorities, cocoa organizations and cooperatives.

At Tarapoto, San Martin, after another press conference, Mr. Pipitone made a presentation at a conference at San Martin National University Auditorium, along with regional authorities, representatives of DEVIDA (the National Commission for Legal Affairs and Alternative Development) and owners of local chocolate companies, who participated as panelists. At the lunch that followed, representatives of regional authorities, cocoa organizations and cooperatives were introduced to Mr. Pipitone. The Alliance then invited him on a tour of Tropical Crops Institute (ICT), where they presented their research on cocoa.

In the capital, Lima, following press interviews with the national media, Mr. Pipitone took part in a conference bringing together national authorities, investors, traders and a range of stakeholders, before more interviews and a farewell reception.

On his last day in Peru, Mr. Pipitone met USAID Mission Director Mr. Lawrence Rubey at the US Embassy and afterwards made a presentation to the Alternative Development Office team, attended by the Peru Cocoa Alliance. Mr. Pipitone also had a meeting with Ms. Carmen Rosa Chavez, Director of Agricultural Business at the Peruvian Ministry of Agriculture.

In total, during the week, 580 producers, investors, students and regional government representatives participated in the conference in Pucallpa, 187 in Tarapoto and some 292 in Lima, in addition to 55 press impressions made in all three places.

Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics – November 2015

London, 27 November 2015–The International Cocoa Organization today released its revised estimates, summarized below, of world production, grindings and stocks of cocoa beans for the 2014/2015 cocoa year. The data published in Issue No. 4 – Volume XLI – Cocoa year 2014/2015 of the Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics, reflect the most recent information available to the Secretariat as at the beginning of November 2015.

Summary of revised estimates

 

Cocoa year
(Oct-Sep)		 2013/2014 2014/2015 Year-on-year change
Revised
estimates		 Previous
estimates a/		 Revised
estimates
(thousand tonnes) (Per cent)
World production 4 372
 4 158 4 201
 – 171 – 3.9%
World grindings 4 322
 4 131 4 123
 – 199 – 4.6%
Surplus/deficit b/        6  – 15     36
End-of-season stocks 1 565
 1 601 1 601 + 36 + 2.3%
Stocks/Grindings ratio 36.2% 38.8% 38.8%

Notes:
a/   Estimates published in Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics, Vol. XLI – No. 3 – Cocoa year 2014/2015
b/   Surplus/deficit: net world crop (gross crop adjusted for loss in weight) minus grindings
Totals may differ due to rounding.

This issue of the Bulletin contains the Secretariat’s revised estimates for the 2014/2015 cocoa year as well as data for the past four years of production and grindings of cocoa beans, detailed by country. The main features of the global cocoa market are illustrated in colour charts. In addition, the Bulletin includes comments on the crop and demand situation in the leading countries, and a review of price developments on international markets for cocoa beans during the 2014/2015 cocoa year.

Statistical information on trade in cocoa beans, cocoa products and chocolate, by country and by region, published in this edition, covers annual data from 2011/2012 to 2013/2014 and quarterly statistics for the period July-September 2013 to January-March 2015. Details of destination of exports and origin of imports for leading cocoa exporting countries are also provided. Historical statistics on cocoa trade and consumption, by country and by region, for the period 2005/2006 to 2013/2014 are presented for reference.

Copies of the Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics, including Microsoft Excel files and Adobe PDF format, can be ordered by completing and returning this form, or from the ICCO Secretariat at the address below:

International Cocoa Organization
Westgate House
Ealing
London W5 1YY
United Kingdom

Tel:             +44 (0)20 8991 6000
Fax:            +44 (0)20 8997 4372
E-mail:        registry@icco.org or info@icco.org

Attendees praise Accra project preparation seminar

Over 70 participants from all over the West African region attended the ICCO’s International Seminar on the Development, Implementation and Evaluation of Cocoa Projects, held in Accra, Ghana in June.

The seminar, kindly sponsored by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the Ghana Cocoa Board, aimed to enhance the capacity and skills of relevant officials and other stakeholders involved in the development of the cocoa sector to prepare for and implement cocoa projects.

Opened by the Chief Executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board, Dr. Stephen Opuni (pictured above, second from left), Mr. Yusuf Daya of Afreximbank (above right) and ICCO Executive Director Dr. Jean-Marc Anga (above, second from right), the seminar included presentations from Mr. Yunusa Abubakar and Mr. Moises Gomez of the ICCO, Mr. Ebenezer Tei-Quartey of the Ghana Cocoa Board, Dr Coffi Noumon of the African Capacity Building Foundation (at left above), Ms. Teresa Widmer of Swisscontact and Mr. Daya.

Over its four days, the seminar covered project identification, project preparation and analysis, prject appraisal and review, project implementation and management, project evaluation and impact analysis, and project management software.

The seminar assessment forms completed by all the participants showed that generally they found the training to have been useful and pertinent in enhancing their knowledge of project management.

At the end of the sessions, Mr. Abubakar presented seminar certificates to all the participants, and thanked the Government of Ghana, the Ghana Cocoa Board and Afreximbank for its support. Dr. F.K. Oppong, Deputy Chief Executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board, then officially closed the proceedings by encouraging all participants to apply the knowledge that they had gained at the seminar to further develop the cocoa sectors of their respective countries.