the cocoa market | Italy

1.1 Definition and scope of study

Cocoa is the most important powder obtained after crushing cocoa beans. The cocoa industry is very clearly divided:

• The upstream part which consists of the exploitation of cocoa plantations and the recovery, drying, roasting and grinding of cocoa beans. This upstream primary industry is the near-monopoly of developing countries;
• The primary downstream part which consists in the transformation of the raw bean into "cocoa mass", a semi-finished product used by the entire chocolate industry (cleaning, drying, roasting, peeling and grinding) which sometimes takes place directly on the production site but which is much more often pre-grinding than western multinationals;
• The secondary downstream part that consists in the production of chocolate and other by-products that are finally distributed to final consumers. These secondary and tertiary activities are largely concentrated in developed countries;

Among these key segments of the cocoa value chain is of course the transport industry, in particular the maritime industry, which links the different geographical areas involved.

The world cocoa market is a globalized market with a typical functioning of commodity markets. Most of the production is concentrated in Africa since Ivory Coast and Ghana alone account for more than one million people 60% of world cocoa production, equal to more than 4 billion tons. Other key countries in world production are other African countries, South American countries and Indonesia. It should be noted that 80% of world production comes from family plantations of less than 10 hectares.

Downstream of industry, Europe and the American continent represent an important part of global processing and consumption. It should also be noted that some western multinationals control a substantial share of the global market for the final product.

The cocoa market in Italy has grown significantly over the last twenty years, rising from 19% from 2000 to 2016. Italy is in fact the fifth largest importer of cocoa in the world, with 2.8% of global imports. Nevertheless, Italy produces around 334 tons of cocoa per year, almost three times the value of imports.

The main Italian operator of the first processing of cocoa is Ferrero, which in 2016 accounted for a 9.5% share of the global market, immediately after major international groups such as Mars, Mondelez, and Nestlé.

In recent years, there has been an increase in consumption of organic cocoa and chocolate products. This trend is motivated not only by consumers' food considerations, but above all by their considerations on trade and ethical production in the cocoa supply chain.