May 2014 Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics

London 30 May 2014–The International Cocoa Organization today releases its revised forecasts for the current 2013/2014 cocoa year and revised estimates of world production, grindings and stocks of cocoa beans for 2012/2013, as summarized below. The data published in Issue No. 2 – Volume XL – Cocoa year 2013/2014 of the Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics,reflect the most recent information available to the Secretariat as at the middle of May 2014.

Summary of revised forecasts and estimates

 

Cocoa year
(Oct-Sep)		 2012/2013 2013/2014 Year-on-year change
Revised
estimates		 Previous
Forecasts a/		 Revised
Forecasts
(thousand tonnes) (Per cent)
World production 3 929 4 104 4 162 + 233 + 5.9%
World grindings 4 083 4 178 4 195 + 112 + 2.7%
Surplus/deficit b/ –  193 –  115 – 75
End-of-season stocks 1 640 1 547 1 565  – 75 – 4.6%
Stocks/Grindings ratio 40.2% 37.0% 37.3%

Notes:
a/   Estimates published in Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics, Vol. XL – No. 1 – Cocoa year 2013/2014
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 forecasts for the 2013/2014 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 crop and demand prospects in the leading countries for the current season, and a review of price developments on international markets for cocoa beans during the January-March quarter of 2014.

Statistical information on trade in cocoa beans, cocoa products and chocolate, by country and by region, published in this edition, covers annual data from 2010/2011 to 2012/2013 and quarterly statistics for the period January-March 2012 to July-September 2013.  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 2004/2005 to 2012/2013 are presented for reference.

Copies of the Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics, including in Microsoft Excel files and in Adobe PDF format versions, [media-downloader media_id=”2514″ texts=”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, UK

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

CNN’s Richard Quest to moderate child labour panel at WCC2 Amsterdam

London, 27 May 2014 — Richard Quest, the well-known CNN television business broadcaster and journalist, is to moderate a panel at the World Cocoa Conference in June in Amsterdam.

Having fronted an in-depth documentary for CNN’s Freedom Project, Cocoa-nomics, originally broadcast earlier in 2014, Mr. Quest is to moderate the panel looking at global efforts to eradicate the worst forms of child labour in the cocoa sector.

Mr. Quest previously interviewed farmers, top government officials and senior industry figures as part of the Cocoa-nomics project.

British-born Mr. Quest is one of the foremost international broadcast journalists in the business sector, and he hosts the CNN programme Quest for Business from New York every weekday.

The World Cocoa Conference, which runs 9 – 13 June at the RAI Convention Centre in Amsterdam, is set to attract over 1,000 participants from all over the world and across the entire spectrum of the industry, taking in farmers, traders, the cocoa and chocolate industry, governments of producing and consuming countries, as well as NGOs and civil society.

At the Conference panel on child labour, scheduled for Wednesday, 11 June, Mr. Quest’s panellists will include Mr. Nick Weatherill, Executive Director of the International Cocoa Initiative (which was set up to investigate this issue), Dr. Francis Baah, Manager of the Ghana Cocoa Board, and Mr. Benjamin Smith, the senior officer at the International Labour Organization looking at the problem.

Full details of the second edition of the World Cocoa Conference, which is scheduled to hear from 90 speakers and panellists on numerous cocoa topics over five days, are available at the event website www.worldcocoaconference.org.

You can download the latest edition of the Conference brochure here.

ICCO receives French Chocolate Academy’s 2014 prize

London, 23 May 2014 — The International Cocoa Organization in mid-May was presented with the 2014 grand prize of the Academie Française du Chocolat et de la Confiserie (the French Chocolate and Confectionery Academy).

At a ceremony held in Paris on 13 May, Academy president Xavier Conraux presented this year’s prize to the ICCO’s Director of Economics Laurent Pipitone.

The Academy, which comprises 40 elected members from a number of fields linked by a love and concern for chocolate and confectionery, presents its award annually to individuals and organizations that have assisted in the advance of standards in these areas.

The Academy said that the awarding of the prize recognised the work of the ICCO over many years, and in particular praised the Organization’s creation of the World Cocoa and Chocolate Day, which takes place annually on 1 October.

World Cocoa and Chocolate Day was established to draw public attention to the contribution of cocoa producers in the chocolate industry chain.

The especially dedicated day was initiated as the result of a decision by the members of the International Cocoa Council at their meeting in Berlin in 2008.

Pictured: Academy president Xavier Conraux (left) presents Laurent Pipitone of the ICCO  with the 2014 prize (photo by Éric Bernard)

World Cocoa Conference gathers the sector to hear over 65 speakers

London, 8 May 2014 — The second edition of the World Cocoa Conference, due to take place in Amsterdam’s RAI Convention Centre next month, will bring together a dazzling array of speakers, presenters and panellists from all over the world.

Among them are Ministers from host country the Netherlands, from Ghana and Ecuador, top executives from the world’s most important cocoa and chocolate industry corporations, senior government officials from the major cocoa producing and consuming countries, cocoa farmers and their representatives from a wide range of origins, and a large number of NGOs, research and educational bodies, along with speakers whose expertise ranges from the development of the world’s chocolate markets to the effective financing of cocoa farming.

The Conference, set for 9 – 13 June, will look at the progress of governments and industry in addressing the issues identified at the first Conference, attended by over 1,000 delegates in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire in 2012.

As a result, the Amsterdam edition of the Conference will look at topics including value distribution from the farm to the chocolate bar, efforts to eradicate the worst forms of child labour, improving productivity, attracting a new generation of cocoa farmers, protecting the diversity of cocoa, adding value to cocoa at origin, managing the supply deficit, promoting consumption in emerging markets and food safety issues, among many others.

The Keynote Presentation, to be made by ICCO Executive Director Dr. Jean-Marc Anga, is titled ‘How to Improve Cocoa Farmers’ Incomes’ and that theme runs through the Conference as one of the most important issues in the sector today.

The Conference, kindly hosted by the Government of the Netherlands, will be supplemented by an adjacent trade Exhibition, where some of the most important organizations in the sector will display their products and services.

Also taking place at the RAI will be a series of interactive lunchtime sessions on cocoa topics organized by well-known Dutch-based stakeholders including IDH, the Royal Tropical Institute and Solidaridad.

Conference delegates and guests will also be gathering at a number of social events both on and off the premises, highlighted by a Conference Dinner at the 17th Century Maritime Museum in the heart of the city.

To take advantage of Amsterdam’s status as the world’s top port and processing centre for cocoa, a number of site visits and sightseeing tours will also take place.

Welcome assistance for the Conference is being provided by sponsors and donors, including industry leaders Cargill, Mars, ADM Cocoa, Barry Callebaut, Mondelēz, Afreximbank, Olam, ProEcuador, and Syngenta and by BASF, Bayer Crop Science, Bühler, The Hershey Company, Filhet-Allard Maritime, Tradin Organic, StoPak and IDH.

For full details, including the latest speaker list for the Conference, click here to download the brochure.

The dedicated website for the World Cocoa Conference–where you can register online as a delegate and get information about sponsorship, exhibiting, travel to Amsterdam and accommodation–is at www.worldcocoaconference.org.

Council visits the top chocolate consuming country for its 89th session

London, 20 March 2014 — The home of the world’s highest per capita consumers of chocolate became the appropriate venue for the 89th session of the International Cocoa Council, hosted by the kind invitation of the Government of Switzerland, at the Radisson Blu Zurich Airport hotel in Zurich, 7 – 11 March.

Delegates were welcomed to Switzerland by the State Secretary, Her Excellency Marie-Gabrielle Ineischen-Fleisch, who reminded delegates of her country’s crucial role in the world’s chocolate sector, and also highlighted ongoing Swiss efforts in developing   sustainability in the cocoa supply chain.

Among the issues under discussion in Zurich were the plans for the second edition of the World Cocoa Conference (WCC) at the RAI Convention Centre in Amsterdam in June, and ICCO Executive Director Dr. Jean-Marc Anga was able to report that four Ministers were already scheduled to be on hand officially to open the event. Besides an attractive slate of speakers and panellists from around the world, he added, the Amsterdam WCC was already guaranteed to bring together a host of top executives from the world’s largest cocoa and chocolate companies.

Dr. Anga also explained that cocoa farmers from all over the world were to be sponsored to attend the Conference, bringing their voices to the debate on the most important issues in cocoa that were to be tackled at the meeting.

The World Cocoa Foundation, CAOBISCO and the Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative IDH among several others, were all involved in special sessions to take place alongside the main Conference, Dr. Anga said, and the Dutch group of stakeholder organizations was planning on holding a series of interactive sessions to enlarge on and develop the themes of the WCC. To top it all off, he said, the Conference Dinner is to be held in Amsterdam’s spectacular National Maritime Museum and is set to become 2014’s premier cocoa networking opportunity.

At the accompanying meeting of the enlarged, private sector-led Consultative Board on the World Cocoa Economy, Dr. Anna Laven of the Royal Tropical Institute in the Netherlands outlined the new blogs that are being created on the Cocoa Connect website to tie together the themes to be addressed at the Amsterdam WCC.

A report on the recently concluded second Certification Workshop was also presented to the Consultative Board, highlighting progress in identifying commonalities in standards and benefits for all stakeholders, and especially cocoa producers. While the social and environmental pillars of sustainability were already being addressed, the participants of the workshop found that it was the economic pillar—which encompasses farmer livelihoods—that still required much work.

Taking its cue from the Workshop itself, part of the Board’s sessions were conducted using an interactive ‘forum’ technique, inviting small groups of participants to discuss significant topics around tables of 12, each complete with a moderator and rapporteur. This method was found by the participants to be both stimulating and practical, and is being considered as a regular fixture for future ICCO meetings.

Council Chairman Anna Tofftén of Sweden who presided over the main meeting, introduced Dr. Stephen Opuni, the new CEO of the Ghana Cocoa Board, and the Council considered reports from the ICCO’s Economics and Administration and Finance Committees, which both met alongside the Council in Zurich.

The Council noted with regret that the Zurich meeting would be the final appearance of the Spokesman of the Consuming Countries, Mr. Rüdiger Ohst of Germany, who had served with distinction for several years, but was moving to a new role within his government.

A taste of Switzerland was offered to the Council delegates with a demonstration of fine chocolate making by Zurich-based confectionery giant Lindt & Sprüngli, whose master chocolatiers showed the way that quality cocoa, in the right hands, can create the sort of attractive and tasty products that are loved by consumers worldwide.

 

 

Click to download presentations from the Zurich meetings:

[media-downloader media_id=”4458″ texts=”CAOBISCO / ECA / FCC – SPS Projects”]

Royal Tropical Institute (KIT, Netherlands)

[media-downloader media_id=”4451″ texts=”Brazil / CEPLAC”]

[media-downloader media_id=”4457″ texts=”Cameroon / ONCC”]

Indonesia – Public Private Partnerships

Switzerland – Sustainability

Germany / GIZ – Cocoa Food Link Programme

World Cocoa Foundation – Planting Material

ICCO World Cocoa Economy – Present and Future

Outcome of the Zurich Certification Workshop

Zurich Certification Workshop finds common ground

London, 18 March 2014 — Over 70 stakeholders from Europe, the US, Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia took part in the ICCO’s second International Workshop on Cocoa Certification in Zurich, Switzerland on 6 and 7 March, the Organization reported today.

The Workshop, organized in close cooperation with the United Nations Forum on Sustainable Standards (UNFSS), included cocoa producers, representatives of cocoa exporting and importing country governments, the cocoa and chocolate industry, certification bodies, civil society and international agencies.

Following up on the first ICCO Cocoa Certification workshop, held in Douala, Cameroon in June 2013, the Zurich workshop added to the interactive combination of presentations, interviews and panel discussions with a new forum session that invited a cross section of stakeholders to discuss the important issues in more intimate groups of 12. The tremendous energy generated by this forum had very positive participation and results.

At the workshop, ICCO-commissioned consultant Aimee Russillo presented a working document that provided the broad outline to allow the participants to begin creating a reference framework of commonalities for sustainable cocoa.

The main objective of the workshop was to assist existing and emerging national and international sustainability-related standards to develop a common framework, using a set of commonly agreed pre-competitive, minimum requirements, up to a threshold level, beyond which individual certification standards would be free to compete with one another based on their unique specific requirements, taking into account the demands of individual consumer market segments.

There was agreement at the end of the workshop that there are benefits for all stakeholders along the value chain in coming up with a simplified common language, a reference point and guide, prioritizing actions and strategies, being transparent about the roles and actions of those involved, and about progress on key issues. Other benefits, the stakeholders found, were flexibility, scalability and accessibility, affordability and comparing indicators for impact assessment and measurements, as well as reducing auditing procedures and costs.

The stakeholders agreed that long term sustainability in the cocoa sector required reaching out to the unorganized cocoa farmers (estimated at 80% of the total) to provide them with the required assistance.

While recognizing that sustainability in cocoa is a shared responsibility between all stakeholders, the participants also understood that certification is only one tool within a group of interventions supporting the sustainable development of the sector.

Other instruments, such as adequate investments in farmers, in order to address the production and supply side for sustainable production are also necessary. This has to be complemented by investments in sustainable trade and non-monetized, public good infrastructure. Stakeholder cooperation in the framework of national platforms for public private partnerships (PPPs) is a critical success factor. PPPs with governments as lead actors, including all stakeholders in an inclusive, transparent and participatory approach, are the best vehicles to deliver sustainability, and existing standard systems should aim to operate within the PPPs. A continuous improvement process, including key impact indicators to monitor and evaluate actions, is necessary for the common framework to make step-by-step progress. There must be information transparency, and data must be available and shared at all levels.

The ICCO and UNFSS will continue to support and facilitate the development of the common framework as a guide for cocoa sustainability. They will particularly focus on the gaps identified by the participants in the economic pillar of sustainability, under which the producer should be adequately rewarded.

Click on any of the highlighted presentations in the programme below to download that presentation.

[media-downloader media_id=”3484″ texts=”A full report of the Zurich cocoa certification workshop is available for download by clicking here.”]

[media-downloader media_id=”3458″ texts=”A summary of the outcome of the Forum section of the Workshop can be downloaded here.”]

[media-downloader media_id=”3462″ texts=”A presentation of the outcome of the workshop is available for download here.”]

THURSDAY 6 MARCH 2014

08.30 Registration
09.00

OPENING SESSION
 

 

 Opening remarks:

  • Hans-Peter Egler, Head Trade Promotion, SECO
  • Jean-Marc Anga, Executive Director, ICCO
  • Chris Wunderlich, UNFSS Coordinator
09.30

SESSION 1

[media-downloader media_id=”3456″ texts=”A presentation of the outcome of the workshop is available for download here.”]
10.30 Cocoa Break
11.00

 

 

 

 

Panel discussions with stakeholders involved in standards systems on the way forward.

Chair: Aimee Russillo, Managing Partner, Liseed Consulting

Panellists:

  • Götz Schroth, Senior Manager Cocoa, Sustainable Agriculture Division, Rainforest Alliance
  • Rüdiger Meyer, CEO, FLO-CERT GmbH
  • Han de Groot, Executive Director, UTZ Certified
  • Ulrich Helberg, Coordinator, Certification Capacity Enhancement (CCE)
  • Karin Kreider, Executive Director, ISEAL Alliance
  • Jack Steijn, Chair CEN Committee 415 on sustainable and traceable cocoa
12.30 Lunch
14.00

Presentations by cocoa producing countries on national standards

Chair: Michiel Hendriksz, Director Sustainability, ADM International Sarl, Cocoa Division

Panellists:

  • [media-downloader media_id=”3457″ texts=”Atta Brou Noël, Conseiller Technique du Directeur Général, and Rosemarie Tanoe, Chef de Service Projets et Suivi Évaluation, Conseil du Café-Cacao, Côte d’Ivoire”]
  • [media-downloader media_id=”3459″ texts=”Edem Amegashie, Deputy Marketing Manager, Ghana Cocoa Board”]
  • [media-downloader media_id=”3461″ texts=”Lee Choon Hui, Director General, Malaysian Cocoa Board”]
  • [media-downloader media_id=”3460″ texts=”Jaime Freire, Advisor to the Ecuadorian Coordinating Association of Fine Cocoa Producers (ACEPROCACAO), Ecuador”]

Panel discussions
16.00 Cocoa Break
16.30

Panel discussions comprising representatives from the cocoa and chocolate industry.

Chair: Lee Choon Hui, Director General, Malaysian Cocoa Board

Panellists:

  • Darell High, Nestle
  • Cathy Pieters (Cocoa Life Program Director), Mondelēz International
  • Michiel Hendriksz, Director Sustainability, ADM International Sarl, Cocoa Division
  • Daudi Lelijveld, VP Cocoa Sustainability & MD Biolands, Barry Callebaut AG
  • Simon Brayn-Smith, Olam International
18.00 End of Session

FRIDAY 7 MARCH 2014

09.00 Panel discussions with Civil Society Organizations / NGOs:

Chair: JensSoth, Expert and Advisor to SECO, Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation

Panellists:

  • Hans Perk, Global cocoa programme coordinator, Solidaridad
  • Manfred Borer, Sustainable Cocoa Production Program, Swisscontact
  • Friedel Hutz-Adams, Sudwind/Voice
10.00 Cocoa break
10.30

SESSION 2

[media-downloader media_id=”3486″ texts=”Lee Choon Hui, Director General, Malaysian Cocoa Board”]

Cocoa Forum: Participants group into five tables, with twelve members in each group to be chaired by a moderator and assisted by a rapporteur to discuss four key questions:

  • 1) What are the gaps to have a common framework accepted by your stakeholders?
  • 2) What could be the solutions to fill those gaps?
  • 3) How do we get “buy-in” from you and your stakeholders?
  • 4) Possible role for ICCO & UNFSS in moving this process forward?

Moderators: Jens Soth and Aimee Russillo

[media-downloader media_id=”3486″ texts=”Forum Results”]
12.00 Lunch
14.30

SESSION 3

Recommendations on the way forward

  • Strategy: Practical actions on how the industry, certification initiatives and cocoa producing countries can work together using an integrated approach
  • Practical actions on how the ICCO and UNFSS can facilitate the process

Closing session and adoption of recommendations on the way forward

Peru joins the International Cocoa Agreement 2010

Peru on 4 March 2014 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. Gustavo Adolfo Meza-Cuadra Velásquez,
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Permanent Representative of Peru, signs the International Cocoa Agreement 2010 at United Nations headquarters in New York

Le Pérou adhère à l’Accord international sur le cacao de 2010

Le 4 mars 2014, le Pérou a signé l’Accord international sur le cacao de 2010, a confirmé la Section des traités des Nations Unies.

Cliquez ici pour voir la notification officielle de la signature de l’accord par les Nations Unies.

Sur la photo: SEM Gustavo Adolfo Meza-Cuadra Velásquez, 
ambassadeur extraordinaire et plénipotentiaire et représentant permanent du Pérou , signe l’accord international sur le cacao de 2010 au siège des Nations Unies à New York

February 2014 Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics

London, 28 February 2014–The International Cocoa Organization today released its first forecasts for the 2013/2014 cocoa year and revised estimates of world production, grindings and stocks of cocoa beans for 2012/2013, summarized below. The data published in Issue No. 1 – Volume XL – Cocoa year 2013/2014 of the Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics reflect the most recent information available to the Secretariat as at the middle of February 2014.

Summary of forecasts and revised estimates

 

Cocoa year
(Oct-Sep)		 2012/2013 2013/2014 Year-on-year change
Previous estimates a/ Revised estimates Forecasts
(thousand tonnes) (Per cent)
World production 3 931 3 942 4 104 + 162 + 4.1%
World grindings 4 052 4 077 4 178 + 101 + 2.5%
Surplus/deficit b/ – 160 – 174 – 115
End-of-season stocks 1 672 1 662 1 547 – 115 – 6.9%
Stocks/Grindings ratio 41.3% 40.8% 37.0%

 

Notes:
a/   Estimates published in Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics, Vol. XXXIX – No. 4 – Cocoa year 2012/2013
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 first forecasts for the 2013/2014 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 Bulletinincludes comments on crop and demand prospects in the leading countries for the current season, and a review of price developments on international markets for cocoa beans during the October-December quarter of 2013.

Statistical information on trade in cocoa beans, cocoa products and chocolate, by country and by region, published in this edition, covers annual data from 2009/2010 to 2011/2012 and quarterly statistics for the period October-December 2011 to April-June 2013. Details of origin of imports and destination of exports for leading cocoa importing countries are also provided. Historical statistics on cocoa trade and consumption, by country and by region, for the period 2003/2004 to 2011/2012 are presented for reference.

Copies of the Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics, including Microsoft Excel files and Adobe PDF format, can be ordered 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, UK

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

Certification direct dialogue workshop set for Zurich, Switzerland in March

London, 20 January 2014–A direct dialogue follow-up to last year’s International Workshop on Cocoa Certification is planned to be held in Zurich, Switzerland, 6-7 March 2014.

The meeting, aimed at the cocoa and chocolate industry on the one hand and the cocoa producing countries on the other, is being organized and facilitated by the ICCO and the United Nations Forum of Sustainability Standards (UFSS). It will take place at the Radisson Blu Hotel at Zurich Airport.

While registration is free of charge, the direct dialogue workshop is open to ICCO member delegates, and others by invitiation only, with the travel and hotel costs of participants to be fully sponsored by their countries.

Full details of the direct dialogue, including the official announcement, hotel details and a registration form are available here.

[media-downloader media_id=”2349″ texts=”The draft programme of the workshop can be downloaded by clicking here.”]

[media-downloader media_id=”3483″ texts=”Click here to download the full working discussion document, ‘Sustainable Cocoa and Certification’ which has been prepared for the direct dialogue workshop.”]

Details of the International Workshop on Cocoa Certification held in June 2013 in Douala, Cameroon–including the final report and a full list of downloadable presentations–can be accessed here.