Caribbean Export OUTLOOK 2016 - 2017

61 / 140

Caribbean Fine
Flavoured Cocoa:
AGlobal Niche?
By Lorraine Waldropt
Champagne – rich and exquisite – is a niche
product with a competitive advantage, highly
differentiated and specialised for an elitemarket.
Indeed, the beverage is branded, bottled and
marketed in such a way that those who demand
it must pay the price. Now shift your gaze to
dark chocolate made from Caribbean origin
cocoa – the smooth taste of heaven on your
palette, delectably infused with the intrinsic
fine flavours of the Caribbean. Martin Christy,
one of the world’s foremost experts on chocolate
tasting and founder of the fine chocolate review
website, , will certainly
authenticate this claim, as Caribbean origin
chocolate is highly differentiated, demanded
by an elitemarket and fetches a decent price. But is
Caribbean cocoa in the same branding bandwagon
and, if so, are the opportunities for development
of the industry maximised?
There are some gray areas in the
cocoa and grapes analogy due to the
Caribbean cocoa dilemma of high
potential but low progress. Within
the CARIFORUM region, cocoa
growing, producing and processing
comprise an integral part of many
rural farming communities. In
view of the International Cocoa Organization’s
classification of bulk cocoa (used for mass milk
chocolate markets) and fine flavoured cocoa
(used for niche upscale dark chocolate markets),
the International Cocoa Agreement, 1993,
recognises 17 countries as producers of fine
flavoured cocoa, of which eight are classified as
exclusive producers. These eight include seven
CARIFORUM countries – Dominica, Grenada,
Jamaica, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the
Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago
–with theDominicanRepublic as part producers.
Herein resides an opportunity for these countries
to build a high-value niche cocoa industry, like the
grapes industry in Champagne. Despite the high
demand for theCaribbean fine flavoured aromatic
brand of cocoa, which is well sought after by the
world’s elite chocolatiers, CARIFORUM cocoa
accounts for only 5% of world production.
Regardless of the high development potential
and premium prices offered for fine flavoured
cocoa, the Caribbean cocoa sector continues its
streak of low production and low dominance in
the world market.
Today, the world cocoa industry is an almost
US$100billion industry, poised to growby another
20%over the next decade. According to theWorld
Cocoa Foundation, 40-50 million people depend
on cocoa for their livelihood. In CARIFORUM
cocoa-producing countries, tens of thousands of
rural, low-income farmers and workers engage
in the cocoa industry that serves hundreds of
thousands of dependents.
How then, in light of the socio-economic relevance
of cocoa to CARIFORUM countries which
produce this key crop, can the dark chocolate/
Caribbean cocoa model be moulded along the
pathway of success of the champagne/grapes
story? While there is no simple answer to this
question, a starting point can be accepting and
embracing the necessity of change in the branding
and associated structural infrastructure of the
CARIFORUMcocoa industry. Ametamorphosis
of the regional sectormust fundamentally address
the most important variables in the champagne
success equation which are quality and specialist
branding.
Inhiscocoatochocolate journey,Christyhastasted
fine chocolates of the biggest and smallest world
brands, and he and his Direct Cacao team have
been the major driving force in guiding targeted
developmentofcocoaproducingcountrieswiththe
bestcocoaflavourstowardsgreatercompetitiveness
and sector sustainability. Countries within the
CARIFORUM group are among his favourite fine
flavoured chocolate origin cocoa picks, and he is
committed to addressing the dilemma which
plagues the region’s cocoa stakeholders.
“I know fine chocolate and I love it. And this is
why I can attest to the great fine flavours of cocoa
from Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica,
Belize, and the list goes on for the Caribbean. But
having good genetic material for the world’s best
flavours and maintaining high quality are two
separate things,” he says.
Christy identifies Germany, Belgium, England,
Italy, Spain, and France as the high-end markets
for Caribbean origin dark chocolates and cocoa
products inEurope. Europeanmanufacturerswho
supply chocolate to these markets are the main
clients ofCaribbeanfine flavoured cocoa. But these
markets cannot be effectively served
without a total transformation of
the regional sector towards amodel
that propels high quality and
branding, to increase production
of cocoa as a raw material to meet
growing world demands, micro-
farmprofitability, value added sub-
sectors and contribution to country
GDP, he argues.
“The answer to developing fine flavoured cocoa
niche industries in the Caribbean is a drive
towards specialisation of the market. While
the emphasis is usually placed on increase in
quantity, many of the European markets apply
a greater weight to quality. As such, the only
way CARIFORUM countries can effectively
differentiate themselves from other producers
of fine flavoured cocoa, such as Madagascar and
Papa New Guinea, is through improvement of
quality, marketing, branding and specialisation.
After these milestones are met then the focus
can be channelled towards increase in quantity,”
Christy advises.
Having perused the world industry and its varied
models, he insists that the Caribbean cocoa
model should be customised to the needs and
capabilities of the niche industry.
Today, the world cocoa industry is an
almost US $100 billion dollar industry,
poised to grow by another 20% over the
next decade.
OUR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
59