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.
After last year's sales of grain abroad grew 19% compared to 2017, in the first eight months of 2019 Nicaraguan cocoa exports totaled $5.8 million, 48% more than in the same period of 2018.
Regarding the volume traded, the figures of the Exports Processing Center (Cetrex) that between January and August 2018 and the same period of 2019, the figure increased from 2,433 to 3,405 tons.
Even though in 2018 cocoa was better quoted internationally, the volume sold abroad fell 8% compared to 2017, going down from 4,238 to 3,886 tons.
In contrast to the negative variation in the volume traded, figures from the Export Processing Center (Cetrex) detail that between 2017 and 2018 the value of exports registered a 18.9% growth, increasing from $5.3 million to $6.3 million. This increase is explained by the behavior of the grain price.
Producers in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, will have a processing plant, technical assistance and a global distribution network.
The funds from the Italian-Latin American International Organization (IILA) and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) are part of the project entitled "Revitalization of the quality cocoa chain in Central America and the Caribbean."
The Agricultural Bank has set up a fund of $8.1 million, which will be used for the execution of several cocoa production projects in different parts of the country.
Through a statement issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, the head of the institution, Osmar Benítez, explained that "... the Agricultural Bank has disposed of a fund of 400 million pesos ($8.1 million) to execute several projects to boost cocoa production in the country."
Between 2016 and 2017, cocoa exports plummeted by 41%, going from $227 million to $134 million, a reduction largely explained by weather conditions.
According to representatives from the sector, in order to boost the crop in the country investment needs to be made in replacing plantations, as the performance currently recorded shows far from ideal figures.
The guild of Dominican cocoa growers in San Francisco de Macorís has built a plant with capacity to process 30 thousand tons of cocoa.
Isidoro de la Rosa, president of the National Confederation of Dominican Cacaocultores (Conacado) and treasurer of the National Confederation of Agricultural Producers (Confenagro), told Eldinero.com.do that "... that processor will be among the most modern in America Latina."
A group of Asian cocoa buyers is expected to visit the country in March.
The business mission is being organized by the Embassy of Taiwan in Nicaragua, which has previously led visits by Taiwanese businessmen who come to Central America interested in buying coffee.
The cacao producers union is planning to produce this year close to 1,500 tons of cocoa, 25% more than the production recorded at the close of 2017.
Last year the export value went down 4%, due to unfavorable conditions in international prices, but the export volume grew by 34%, according to data from the Association of Producers and Exporters of Nicaragua (Apen).Guillermo Jacoby, president of the Apen, explained to Elnuevodiario.com.ni: "...'Wewent from 4.2 million kilos to 5.5 million kilos last year'."
Last year exports of 17 types of fruits, vegetables and organic grains may registered a 4% increase compared to 2016.
In the last ten years, the number of agricultural producers dedicated to the cultivation of fruits, vegetables and organic grains increased from 1,500 to 6,451, according to figures from the National Secretariat for Health and Food Safety (SENASA). Also in the last decade, it is estimated that the planted area grew from 4,400 hectares to 31 thousand hectares.
On October 24th, a meeting of cocoa producers will be held in San Pedro Sula, where topics such as genetics and market opportunities will be discussed.
The forum, organized by the National Association of Cocoa Producers in Honduras, is expected to involve 400 producers and members of the National Committee of the Cocoa Chain.
At the beginning of April, cocoa futures prices continued the sustained downward trend initiated from the latter part of the previous month.
From the monthly report by the Cocoa International Organization:
Price movements
In April, the ICCO daily price averaged US$1961 per tonne, down by US$97 compared to the average price recorded in the previous month (US$2,058) and ranged between US$1,833 and US$2,123 per tonne.
Pineapples, bananas and sugar cane represent 98% of total exports of organic products from Costa Rica to ten European Union countries.
Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Latvia, France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom are the nine European markets where Costa Rica exports its organic agricultural production, mainly made up of sugar, bananas, coffee and pineapples, cocoa, papaya, guava and carambola.
Ecuador is preparing a plan to reactivate the production of fine cocoa and plans to increase sales in the international market in 2025 to $3 billion.
The recovery plan for aromatic fine cocoa will raise sales in the international market to $3 billion in 2025, above bananas and shrimp, which are Ecuador's star products.
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