- The CAA have been publishing the region’s cocoa bean grinding data since 2011.
- There are 11 Members who report their data, comprising 90%+ of all Asia processing.
- The reported data is securely compiled by Enterprise Singapore (part of the Singapore Government).
Asia’s demand for products containing cocoa ingredients and chocolate is growing like crazy, forcing the continent’s cocoa industry to searching for the best ways to source cocoa bean supplies.
One of the solutions is to increase production in Indonesia, the top supplier and processor in the region. But that’s going to be a tough assignment because it means reversing a relentless decline in the country’s output due to aging trees, crop disease and more profitable alternatives. That’s spurred record bean imports, with over 600,000t now being imported from growers outside Asia, such as West-Africa or Latin America.
Asia’s processing of cocoa beans, used as an indicator of demand, jumped by about 30% in the three years to the end of 2018, and continued that trajectory in the first half of this year, as growing affluence and changing lifestyles boost consumption of cocoa products. The cocoa processors, also known as grinders, turn the cocoa beans into cocoa mass, cocoa butter and cocoa powder, which is used to make chocolate bars, drinks, ice cream and biscuits.