Caribbean Export OUTLOOK 2016

“CARIFORUM cocoa producers produce just a

small quantity of cocoa in the worldmarket. The

market share is really minute, but the product

is specialised; it is fine flavoured. Therefore, it

must bemarketed and branded as such in order to

capture the highest price to sustain the activities

of its stakeholders. The key to a high priced brand

is quality!” Christy insists.

He cites several economic models which have

failed to achieve high profits and sustainability

due to misguided marketing strategies.

“Positioning is very important

for the competitiveness of

Caribbean cocoa. Fine flavoured

cocoa should not be treated like

a commodity, but like a luxury

product. Commodity markets are

for industries with large quantities

and unspecialised products like

the bulk cocoa market. The cocoa

producing countries of the CARIFORUM region

with 600 and 700 tonnes of cocoa a year cannot

compete against commodity markets like Ghana

and Côte d’Ivoire, which produce 1.6 million

tonnes annually. CARIFORUM cocoa producing

countries should therefore focus on raising the

value of their product by learning the needs of the

end usermarkets and the requirements of the end

products,” states Christy.

“This will be a noteworthy strategy to gain greater

prominence on the global cocoa market. As origin

cocoa stakeholders educate themselves of the

needs in end user markets, this will open the lines

of communication between European buyers and

distributors and CARIFORUM producers and

exporters to increase the level of trade between the

twomarkets.”

Christy further suggests that buyer market

selection should not be random, as thosemarkets

may not be secure. Specialisedmarket selection is

more lucrative and secure andwill come through

differentiated quality.

But all these goals will not be achieved without

the groundwork of major structural changes

to facilitate a new supply chain and aid a

reshuffling of the cocoa value chain to catalyse

the re-branding of cocoa, from a commodity to

luxury good, within the domestic industries.

The recent tendency away from the state-run

cocoa board type industry in some Caribbean

countries, such as Jamaica and Trinidad and

Tobago, and the consequent shift towards a

more privatised industry will accelerate these

structural changes and a sophisticated luxury

good model, Christy says.

In August 2014, restructuring and divestment of

the commercial assets of Jamaica’s cocoa industry

was initiated, following the divestment of the

island’s coffee industry. Earlier in that same year,

the Trinidad and Tobago Government made

amendments to the Cocoa Act and the Cocoa and

Coffee Industry Board to enable a freer market.

Both countries have taken a bold step towards a

more openmarket which is ripe with opportunity

if the largely small farmer-based cocoa stakeholder

group increases quality, to begin a new era of more

direct farmer to chocolatier relationships. Good

chocolate is directly hinged to good cocoa – the

economy of taste, as Christy describes it.

“More direct partnerships must be formed

between European buyers and distributors and

CARIFORUMproducers to set the pace for better

pricing of cocoa – a factor which will increase

the profitability of the crop and its value added

products. Ahigher price will facilitate and sustain

a higher profitability for primary producers and

other stakeholders within the Caribbean cocoa

value chain, but this end will not be actualised

without an increase in quality

to meet the standards of the

specialised market,” Christy

asserts “So the prioritisation of not

only genetics but fermentation

and drying of cocoa will be of

extreme importance to position

the Caribbean cocoa brand.”

He further emphasises the need for informed

marketing as he makes note of the Caribbean’s

tendency towards larger manufacturing markets

for its cocoa.

“The problemwith thesemass markets is the fact

that larger entities will always bargain for lower

prices, as they purchase in bulk. But in Europe

and the USA, I have seen an emergence of many

small chocolatiers who market the bean-to-bar

message. Artisan chocolate is their specialty,

which commands a higher price as compared

to the industrial dark chocolate. Therefore,

through these means, small producers can sell

their chocolate at higher prices as this class of

consumer doesn’t only purchase chocolate but

the experience, the history and the culture of

its origin.”

More direct partnerships must be formed

between European buyers and distributors

and CARIFORUM producers to set the

pace for better pricing of cocoa.

OUR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE