BakeryBiz, Jan-Feb, 2020:

According to recently published reports, Indian chocolate industry is likely to feel the pinch of the rise in global cocoa prices because of a supply crunch. Adverse weather and production cap by West African countries, the largest producers of cocoa, have limited the global supply. India imports large quantity of cocoa beans and powder to bridge the gap between supply and demand in the domestic market. As per the data of International Cocoa Organisation, the cocoa prices stood at USD 2,687.24 per tonne during the last week of January 2020, around 20 per cent increase year-on-year.

Advance estimates by the Directorate of Cashew nut and Cocoa Development shows Indian production at 25,783 tonne for 2019- 20, up by 7.5% from the previous year. Andhra Pradesh and Kerala are the main producers. The requirement is nearly three times higher with a lot of chocolate factories coming up in the country. India imported 52,739 tonnes of cocoa beans in 2018-19, up 57% year-on-year.

Another major concern of the chocolate industry is the increase in the prices of vegetable fat (gone up by 30 per cent) which is widely used as the substitute for costlier cocoa fat, though it can be imported without duty from the ASEAN countries.