{"id":22517,"date":"2025-05-23T13:29:07","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T13:29:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/?p=22517"},"modified":"2025-05-23T13:30:57","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T13:30:57","slug":"cocoa-valuation-higher-on-quality-concerns-in-ivory-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/05\/23\/cocoa-valuation-higher-on-quality-concerns-in-ivory-coast\/","title":{"rendered":"Cocoa valuation higher on quality concerns in Ivory Coast"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Global cocoa beans are 20% more expensive in May 2025 than in April, a valuation gain reflecting recent quality declines in Ivory Coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite a global cocoa reserve rally by 10% in 2025 after months of deficits, prices are ironically up from quality concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some chocolate companies in Europe have lately returned poor imports from Abidjan, according to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aa.com.tr\/en\/economy\/cocoa-prices-rally-in-commodity-markets-after-sharp-declines\/3575341\"><u>Anadolu Ajansi<\/u><\/a>. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The risk is that standard declines could reverse production gains by 10% by impelling farmers to grow less but quality cocoa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>May 2025 has generally seen strong rebounds in pricing, partially due to quality and longterm low demand for cacao derivatives.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Consumers have for long been avoiding pricey chocolate bars and are now evading low quality cocoa products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Major brand chocolate brands in the Western Hemisphere have hitherto attributed lukewarm demand solely to high pricing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regarding price, after\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/03\/25\/raw-cocoa-sticks-to-8000-amid-sinking-demand\/\"><u>slumping to the $7,000s<\/u><\/a>\u00a0a tonne (t) in late March 2025, cocoa again touched $11,280\/t through May.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-ivorian-sustainability-improving\"><strong>Ivorian Sustainability Improving<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This at a time when Ivory Coast is combating deforestation before a European Union (EU)\u2019s traceability law takes effect end 2025.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lemonde.fr\/en\/international\/article\/2025\/05\/22\/ivory-coast-s-cocoa-sector-undergoes-transformation_6741520_4.html\"><u>&nbsp;Le Monde<\/u><\/a>, officials for digitally marking forest boundaries are currently visiting cocoa farms in readiness for the origination rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 2023 EU regulation has given small and medium scale cocoa businesses until December 30, 2025 to comply.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a main deterrent to illegal cultivation, the law will make it impossible to export cocoa from farms located on forestland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Could this reverse the current concerns on ebbing standards and improve&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/insights\/prices\/ivory-coast\/cocoa-beans\/\"><u>local export prices<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;in tandem with currently gaining cocoa valuation? The statistics below review how quality and sustainability have an impact on returns.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-statistics-on-ivory-coast-s-bean-quality-and-sustainability-vs-cocoa-valuation\"><strong>Statistics on Ivory Coast\u2019s Bean Quality and Sustainability Vs. Cocoa Valuation&nbsp;<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Ivory Coast leads both cocoa production and exports worldwide at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.caracaschronicles.com\/2022\/08\/02\/the-miracle-of-producing-the-worlds-best-cocoa\/\"><u>2.2 million tonnes<\/u><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20Top%20exporters%20of%20Cocoa%20beans%2C%20whole,%2C%20366%2C286%2C000%20Kg%29%2C%20Cameroon%20%28%24482%2C366.79K%20%2C%2\"><u>1.606 million tonnes<\/u><\/a>, respectively, as of 2021. However, its earnings at over\u00a0<a href=\"#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20Top%20exporters%20of%20Cocoa%20beans%2C%20whole,%2C%20366%2C286%2C000%20Kg%29%2C%20Cameroon%20%28%24482%2C366.79K%20%2C%2\"><u>$4.286 million<\/u><\/a>\u00a0(2021) could be higher if quality matched quantity. Ongoing sustainability efforts are seeking to eliminate deforestation in cocoa areas, which could help boost local cocoa bean prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Does Ivory Coast&nbsp;<\/strong><strong>produce<\/strong><strong>&nbsp;sustainable cocoa<\/strong>?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ivory Coast produced the highest amount of voluntary sustainability standard (VSS)-compliant cocoa worldwide at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/system\/files\/2022-11\/2022-global-market-report-cocoa.pdf\"><u>706,072 tonnes<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;in 2019. Although VSS-compliant cocoa may not sell better than South America\u2019s fine cocoa, at least it insures long-term exports.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Is high quality cocoa<\/strong><strong>&nbsp;in Ivory Coast and elsewhere<\/strong><strong>&nbsp;constrained by&nbsp;<\/strong><strong>demand<\/strong>?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because only <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/system\/files\/2022-11\/2022-global-market-report-cocoa.pdf\">10% <\/a>of world cocoa is in the specialty category, as of 2021, it is costly. This in turn reduces its demand because end-product users are not prepared to pay higher prices than for conventional cocoa.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Is&nbsp;<\/strong><strong>Ivory Coast\u2019s&nbsp;<\/strong><strong>sustainable cocoa beneficial to farmers<\/strong>?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Farmers in Ivory Coast and other places benefit from higher pricing for organic over conventional cocoa. They receive 23 Euro cents (US\u00a226.04)\/kg more for organic cocoa than for conventional, per the International Institute for Sustainable Development (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/system\/files\/2022-11\/2022-global-market-report-cocoa.pdf\"><u>IISD)<\/u><\/a>. For instance, while conventional beans in 2021 cost 1.26 Euro ($1.43) a kg, Rainforest organic equivalents fetched 1.49 Euro ($1.69).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Is there a country<\/strong><strong>&nbsp;other than Ivory Coast<\/strong><strong>&nbsp;whose cocoa quality improves valuation<\/strong>?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One example is Ecuador, which calls its cocoa \u201cblack gold\u201d for a reason. It is a product of organic cultivation extending over 250 years. Although the country ranks fifth in production at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.caracaschronicles.com\/2022\/08\/02\/the-miracle-of-producing-the-worlds-best-cocoa\/\"><u>327,903 tonnes<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;(2021) and fourth in export volume, it is third in export value. This is because its cocoa beans have higher valuation than those of competitors. In 2021, Ecuador raked in&nbsp;<a href=\"#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20Top%20exporters%20of%20Cocoa%20beans%2C%20whole,%2C%20366%2C286%2C000%20Kg%29%2C%20Cameroon%20%28%24482%2C366.79K%20%2C%2\"><u>$819,457,180<\/u><\/a>, the third highest despite exporting less volume than close competitor Nigeria\u2019s 366,286 tonnes. &nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Global cocoa beans are 20% more expensive in May 2025 than in April, a valuation gain reflecting recent quality declines in Ivory Coast. Despite a global cocoa reserve rally by 10% in 2025 after months of deficits, prices are ironically up from quality concerns. Some chocolate companies in Europe have lately returned poor imports from&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":21179,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v16.3 (Yoast SEO v20.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Cocoa valuation higher on quality concerns in Ivory Coast - Selina Wamucii | Food &amp; Agriculture News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/05\/23\/cocoa-valuation-higher-on-quality-concerns-in-ivory-coast\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cocoa valuation higher on quality concerns in Ivory Coast - Selina Wamucii | Food &amp; Agriculture News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Global cocoa beans are 20% more expensive in May 2025 than in April, a valuation gain reflecting recent quality declines in Ivory Coast. 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