Africa's crop cuts and Asia's sweet tooth take bite out of cocoa glut
Chocolate lovers in Asia are taking a big bite out of the global cocoa glut. From India to China, where demand is growing faster than in major markets such as Europe or the US, consumers are eating more chocolate. At the same time, though, big growers in West Africa are harvesting smaller crops. Top processors Cargill and Barry Callebaut expect those trends to erode a glut that made cocoa one of the worst-performing commodities in the past year. "The crop probably will not be as strong as last year, and you'll see growth in demand," Harold Poelma, president of Cargill's cocoa and chocolate unit, said in an interview in Singapore. "These two things together make for a modest surplus, which is the expectation that we have now." Cocoa prices plunged 34% last year and are down again this year after big harvests in Ivory Coast and Ghana overwhelmed demand. Production in the two countries - which account for two-thirds of global supply - is now set to fall, as is the harvest in Indonesia,...
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