Bitter Chocolate

Kuapa Kokoo Elects First Woman President

Michael — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 17:32:00 +0000

2,600 delegates to the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Kuapa Kokoo elected Christina Ohene Agyare as new president of the cocoa farmers’ cooperative in Ghana. Ms Agyare is fifty-one and owns an eleven acre cocoa farm in the the Kwabeng Society in the Atiwa District, Eastern Region of the country. She is one of five [...]

The Man Who Just Bought 7 Percent of the World’s Cocoa

Michael — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 20:05:18 +0000

Anthony Ward, founder and CEO of Armajaro who just took delivery of all that cocoa, gave an interview in January that give some insight into why he bought so much cocoa. He is clearly betting on future shortages and hopes to cash in on the likely profits. On the other hand there are voices that [...]

‘Choc Finger’ Just Bought 7% of Global Cocoa Supplies

Michael — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 23:51:25 +0000

So it was Armajaro and not BNP Paris Bas. The man behind the huge cocoa corner is Anthony Ward. Check out the story in the Daily Mail. In 2002 he made £40 million in two month by simply hoarding cocoa. I wonder how much he will make this time.

Did Sombody Say ‘Corner?’

Michael — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 20:07:52 +0000

Yesterday, I mentioned that the massive purchase of cocoa that took place yesterday in London reminded me of the attempts to corner commodities markets in the late 1800s. Today, the UK’s Telegraph makes it explicit. Citing unnamed experts, the paper reports that “it was very unlikely that a chocolate company, such as Nestle or Kraft, [...]

A Funny Thing Happened on Thursday

Michael — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 20:28:16 +0000

Futures markets are basically places where people sell things they don’t have to people who don’t want them. In plain English, this means, traders just shuffle papers in the hopes of either averting price risk or making a profit. Positions are squared with opposite positions before the due date and nobody ever has to deal [...]

European Cocoa Companies Distrust Markets

Michael — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 17:02:35 +0000

A number of large European Cocoa companies have threatened to move their hedging business from LIFFE (London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange) to ICE (The former New York Board of Trade) unless LIFFE implements controls to limit speculative trades. According to a letter sent by sixteen European cocoa organizations, “the cocoa industry cannot continue [...]

Divine, Kuapa Kokoo Support Ghana’s Sqad

Michael — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 07:28:41 +0000

Just in time for the quarterfinal match between Ghana and Uruguay, Divine Chocolate has placed an ad in Metro in support of the Black Stars against the South American Team. It’s a wonderful idea. Best wishes from Ghanian farmers to Ghanian players. See you in the semifinals.

Hershey Tries a Rap Video

Michael — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 23:29:21 +0000

This comes via a message from Melissa Schweisguth who’s working on corporate social responsibility and responsible sourcing. I let the video speak for itself. I’m not sure it will actually sell more Hershey chocolate. But it sure has novelty value.

Tomorrow is World Day Against Child Labor

Michael — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 15:55:56 +0000

Saturday is World Day Against Child Labor. Inaugurated by the International Labour Organization (ILO), this year’s day celebrates the tenth anniversary of the the adoption of ILO Convention 182, the Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour. The International Labor Rights Fund urges you to call Hershey and let the company know how you [...]

World’s Largest Chocolate Plant to Close

Michael — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:24:09 +0000

The Hershey company announced at the end of May that it will close its famous plant at 19 E. Chocolate Ave in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The plant, for one hundred and six years, the core of the Hershey chocolate empire, will be converted to administrative offices. About six hundred of the one thousand or so workers [...]

Cargill Pays Premium

Michael — Wed, 12 May 2010 20:55:20 +0000

Cargill, the global food giant, joined the sustainability bandwagon in 2008 when the corporation joined the UTZ Certified Program for cocoa. In 2009, the first cooperatives in the Côte d’Ivoire had implemented the relevant codes of conduct and were certified by UTZ. Now, a year later, the first premium payments totaling $400,000 were made to [...]

Farmers Resist Official Advise

Michael — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 16:45:30 +0000

Many farmers in Ghana’s Central Region have refused to cut down their cocoa trees infected by swollen shoot disease. That despite the strong urging by political and scientific authorities and sensitization workshops. Authorities consider the removal of infected trees the best method to keep the disease from spreading. So why won’t farmers play along? It [...]

Cadbury to Open ‘Cocoa Houses’

Michael — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 20:23:18 +0000

Cadbury has announced plans to open a chain of Cocoa Houses in the UK. The plan involves opening some 60 locations across the country over the next three to five years. The first one will open this year. Retail analysts consider this a smart move and a way for Cadbury, now part of food giant [...]

BBC Panorama Documentary on Child Labor

Michael — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 16:27:02 +0000

The folks over at the International Labor Rights Fund have made the six part documentary available on their website. Check it out.

New Cocoa Agreement in the Works

Michael — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 15:46:19 +0000

Negotiations leading to the seventh International Cocoa Agreement (ICCA) got underway in Yaounde, Cameroon in late March. ICCAs are general agreements that are supposed to foster cooperation between producer and consumer countries, encourage sustainable cocoa farming and help producer countries. Over the years, these agreements included market intervention mechanisms such as buffer stocks to smooth [...]

Guest Blogging at Trading Visions

Michael — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 16:38:17 +0000

Tom Allen of Trading Visions has put together a nice collection of blog posts on the intersection between childhood and chocolate. I’ve contributed an post on the record of the chocolate industry to address the issue of child labor in West Africa. Other posts include Amanda Berlan’s contribution on whose voices dominate the debate on [...]

Cocoa Prices – The Continuing Saga

Michael — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:22:18 +0000

The roller coaster of cocoa prices continues. Since the December 16 high of $3,636/ton, cocoa prices have dropped by almost $600/ton as measured by the ICCO Daily Price. There hasn’t been much in terms of news that might warrant this decline. Yes, production in the current year is higher than previously expected, but the surplus [...]

Cadbury Announces Plans for first Social Premium Disbursement

Michael — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:53:22 +0000

Cadbury, the latest convert to fairtrade, announced on Monday its plans for disbursing the first installment of its social premium. The funds, £500,000 ($751,215), will be invested in projects determined by the farmer cooperatives that supply the cocoa. One of the beneficiaries, the Kuapa Kokoo cooperative, will use its share to improve health services for [...]

Some Background on the Ivorian Crisis

Michael — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:32:33 +0000

When Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo dissolved that country’s government and electoral commission on February 12, he created the latest roadblock in the long and difficult road to elections. The outcome was predictable. The elections, already postponed six times to March 2010, now are even father off. Even more disturbing was the dissolution of the Electoral [...]

Sierra Leone Becomes Fairtrade Producer

Michael — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 23:14:54 +0000

Divine Chocolate, my favorite chocolate maker, has done it again. They have just ordered the first fairtrade cocoa to come from the West African Country of Sierra Leone. Eight years after the end of its brutal civil war, with its economy still recovering, the farmers belonging to Kpeya Agricultural Enterprise (KAE) will enjoy the benefits [...]