To stop competing with low prices, companies in Honduras focus on improving the quality of the grain they produce.
In the last few days on the New York Stock Exchange the ton of cocoa has been quoted at about $2,655, however, the better quality produced in the country allows companies like Chocolats Halba to pay local producers $4,000 per ton.
Luis Velex, manager of Chocolats Halba, a company that began operations in Honduras in 2008, told Laprensa.hn that "... Before we came here, there wasn't even a pound of fine chocolate produced here. This post-harvest process was taught, and our technicians follow up to ensure that the quality is maintained."
Central American producers are invited to attend the Regional Cocoa Forum on August 17 and 18 in the Expocentre in San Pedro Sula.
The Cocoa Producers Association of Honduras (APROCACAHO) invites producers in Central America to exchange experiences regarding climate change, markets and obtaining good cocoa prices, reported Latribuna.hn.
"... Anibal Ayala, executive director of APROCACAHO said that the event will feature a taste contest, and will address issues such as climate change, production quality and information systems, which will be discussed by experts from the participating countries."
Manufacturers and exporters of cocoa will meet in Tegucigalpa on October 1 to discuss issues of interest to the sector, including new techniques to improve the genetic quality of the grain.
Providing updated knowledge in the field of genetics, strategies for germplasm conservation and new mechanisms to enhance the organoleptic analysis of mixtures of clones grown in different regions around the country are part of the themes to be addressed at the Seventh National Forum of Cocoa organized by the Cocoa Producers Association of Honduras (Aprocacaho).
On its way to regaining first place in Central America as a producer of grain, Honduras cultivated 4.400 hectares in 2013, quadruple the amount cultivated in 2010.
"We had 1,000 acres in production in 2010 and now we have about 4,400 and we expect that figure to continue growing," said Jacobo Regalado, chief of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (SAG).
Honduras could sell to Switzerland all of the high quality cocoa that it could produce.
The company Chocolates Halba asked Honduran producers to increase the amount of seed sown to ensure a greater presence in Europe.
"The volume of production is very low, purchase expectations are much higher. At the moment, if there were one thousand tons, then we would buy it, but we are responding to the existing supply of high quality product at the national level," said Luis Regalado, country representative of Chocolates Halba.
The first cocoa shipment would be sent by the end of October for Swiss company Chocolats Halba.
The contract with the European company was signed in May, and the first shipments will correspond to the 2009/10 harvest, said Aníbal Ayala, president of the Honduran Cacao Growers Association.
Ayala also told Laprensahn: "Swiss chocolate company Halba could purchase up to 50% of the estimated 500 million tons of Honduran cacao output".
Through a marketing agreement among producers in Honduras, cocoa will be exported jointly to the Swiss Company, Chocolats Halba.
The Association of Honduran Cocoa Producers (APROCACAHO) will centralize organic cocoa exports from the agricultural cooperative Omoa San Fernando Limited and the Association of Choloma River Producers (APACH) with the signing of the marketing agreement.
The Swiss chocolate company, Chocolats Halba, would buy 500 tons of organic cocoa in a three-year period.
Eduardo López García wrote in Elfinanacierocr.com: "The first export will be done this coming May, when the harvest of the grain, which has an annual production of about 1,000 tons, will be completed.
'We already have a preliminary agreement with the Swiss company, Chocolats Halba, to sell them 50 tons in May and then we could reach 170 tons annually over a period of three years,' said Anibal Ayala, president of the Honduran Cocoa Producers Association ( Aprocacaho)."
With world prices at their highest in a decade, Honduras is reaping the rewards of a cocoa boom, said Aníbal Anaya, president of the nation's cocoa producers' association.
Ayala said that though producers have processed only about 100 metric tons this year, Honduras has so far earned at least US$1.5 million in exports.
With world market prices ranging from US$2,700 to $2,800 a metric ton, Ayala said that Honduras will earn more from cocoa exports this year than it did in 2007, despite lower production.