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."
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.
World production projected for the end of 2015/16 cycle will decrease by 6% compared to the period 2014/15.
From a report at the end of August by the International Cocoa Organization:
London, 31 August 2016--The International Cocoa Organization today releases its revised forecasts for the current 2015/2016 cocoa year and revised estimates of world production, grindings and stocks of cocoa beans for 2014/2015, as summarized below.
In order to take advantage of the growing global demand for cocoa and fine chocolates, in the last three years the number of hectares dedicated to the cultivation of cocoa in the country went from 3169 to 4000.
Supporting efforts to obtain a high-quality grain, local producers are increasing acreage and diversifying final products, in order to export cocoa not only in its whole grain or chopped format, but also products such as chocolate, cocoa butter, liqueurs and other things.
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."
Promotion is being given to exports to China of organic cocoa-based foods, chocolate confectionery, unsweetened cocoa powder and cocoa paste.
From a statement issued by the Foreign Trade Office of Costa Rica:
Western foods are gaining increasing market share in South Korea, whose market depends heavily on imports, which have been boosted by growth in per capita spending on food.
As part of a strategy to position internationally cocoa produced in Guatemala the regional union of producers are working on a seal of origin and traceability.
The initiative by the Mesoamerican Organization of Cocoa and Fine Chocolate (Amacacao) is to create a mechanism to certify the origin, quality and traceability of the final product, in order to increase international positioning and increase exports.
In 2014 exports of cocoa-based products generated revenue of $8.4 million, 6% more than in 2013.
Most of the cocoa products which are exported are based on dark chocolate, but varieties of white chocolate and milk chocolate are also sold. The Costa Rican company Grupo Britt, manufacturer and exporter of coffee and chocolate, reports that during the past five years it exported around $10 million worth, "... with a double-digit growth."
Support is being given to sustainable agriculture programs to meet growing consumer concern about the origin of the raw materials of the products they consume.
From a statement issued by the Cosa Rican Foreign Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER):
Cargill and Mondelēz International are promoting two programs to have a cocoa supply chain which is 100% sustainable by 2020.
Imports of this type of chocolates are favored by free trade agreements that Chile has, having allowed the import of chocolates from different countries.
From a press release issued by the Foreign Trade Promotion Office of Costa Rica (PROCOMER):
Chile is one of the countries with the highest demand for chocolate in Latin America, with a consumption of 3 kilos per capita per year, matching levels of some European countries.
Projections are that next year's global grain production will remain insufficient to meet the growing demand, raising the international price to historically high levels.
In the international market the price of cocoa reported a 10% increase up to September this year, reaching $3.39 per ton of grain in the stock market in New York. It is expected that this trend will continue in 2015 due to high demand for the product.
This year Ecuador could surpass Brazil as the largest producer of cocoa in America, with an expected increase of 9% in production, estimated at 240 thousand tons.
Like other producers of the grain, Ecuador is taking advantage of the surge in global demand for chocolate, devoting more resources to the cocoa industry in the country. Government assistance programs, new plantations and a lower incidence of El Niño on crops has led the sector to estimate that production will be 240,000 tonnes this year.
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