The Future of Cocoa is ... Chocolate | #PSC 163
Episode 163 of #PodSaveChocolate will present ideas to address the past, present, and future of cocoa, suggesting ways to navigate our way out of the current crisis. To many, chocolate is not the obvious starting point, but by the end of the episode, my hope is that you will. [updated]
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Overview - Episode 163
Recent episodes of #PodSaveChocolate and posts have covered topics on sustainability, the future, and sourcing:
Clay Gordon
Clay Gordon
Clay Gordon
Clay Gordon
Click into this post for the links to Parts 1 and 2.
Clay Gordon
In this episode of PodSaveChocolate, I will connect some dots by suggesting concrete ways to remedy the challenges the industry faces.
Connecting Dots Concretely
TL;DR – Everything has to start with sustainable markets for chocolate, which means it is the responsibility of actors in consuming countries to take the lead.
In Episode 161, I argued that the most common definitions of sustainability used in cocoa focus exclusively on challenges in cocoa-producing countries – illegal labor, deforestation, poverty, etc. So, all of the efforts to redress environmental, economic, and social sustainability take place in-country.
I also argued that to achieve those sustainability goals, it is necessary for there to be sustainable markets for cocoa products to pay for the programs. Those markets are not in producing countries; they are in consuming countries.
At $5000/MT FOB (average) and assuming 4 million MT production, cocoa (beans) is a $20 billion industry that operates on relatively thin margins. Chocolate is nine to ten times bigger (depending on methodology), and generally operates on much higher margins, especially at the consumer interface.
Chocolate is the economic key to solving the cocoa crisis.
Chocolate is also what the consumer sees. Relatively few consumers know where cocoa comes from, relatively few chocolate consumers are directly involved in farming, and fewer consumers know anything about subsistence farming – and they don’t care. What they see is rising prices on supermarket shelves. While many profess to care about “ethical” and “sustainable” sourcing, their purchase behavior says that when those values raise prices, they will seek out lower-cost items, outsourcing (as I point out in Part 1 of my series on The Changing Landscape of Cocoa Sourcing) their morality to third parties.
BHAG – the Big Hairy Audacious Goal
In other words, we need to grow the number of people who preferentially purchase specialty chocolate (which, by definition, is made using specialty cocoa beans).
On its own, I acknowledge this will not ensure that farmers are compensated in a way that pays for reforms that address the environmental, economic, and social sustainability issues at the farm level. However, we cannot let perfection stand in the way of getting started.
What is Needed to Achieve the BHAG?
The following broad categories need to be considered to achieve the BHAG. (This is not an exhaustive list.)
1️⃣ More & better data: bad/insufficient data leads to bad decisions
2️⃣ Organizational support for Specialty Chocolate & Cocoa
3️⃣ Maker co-operatives in consuming regions/countries
4️⃣ Coordinated marketing programs
5️⃣ Common transparency reporting guidelines
6️⃣ NGOs moving their global HQs to a producing country
7️⃣ Independent entrepreneurial development fund
8️⃣ Making smaller farmer federations easier to set up
9️⃣ NGOs must stop competing for “customers”
🔟 An engaged online global community
Also:
⏫ More programs that help farmers capture a portion of the upstream added value.
What is NOT Needed
⏬ Regulations that do not consider economic impact and that do not legislate who pays what.
⏬ More “civil society” certification schemes.
⏬ Wholesale adoption of cocoa-free “chocolate”.
Comments? Questions?
If you have questions or want to comment, you can do so during the episode or, if you are a ChocolateLife member, add them in the Comments below at any time.
Episode Hashtags and Socials
#cocoa #cacao #cacau
#chocolate #chocolat
#specialtychocolate #craftchocolate #beantobar
#PodSaveChoc #LaVidaCocoa #TheChocolateLife
Future Episodes
There will be no episode of PodSaveChocolate on Friday the 21st (a festival day) or Tuesday the 25th (a travel day). I am hoping to be in a quiet location to stream from on Friday the 28th.
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Clay Gordon
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