Caribbean Export OUTLOOK 2016 - 2017

OUR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

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

“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.

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

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.”

“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

More direct partnerships must be formed between European buyers and distributors and CARIFORUM producers to set the pace for better pricing of 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.”

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.”

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

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