COPAL COCOA Info



COPAL COCOA Info

A Weekly Newsletter of Cocoa Producers' Alliance

| Health and Nutrition |Business & Economy |

|Bel Marra Health comments on recent study that says cocoa could help |Ghana faces Ivory Coast stiff competition in hosting ICCO |

|reduce skeletal muscle related pain |headquarters – Report |

|Chocolate might help you lose weight | |

|Health benefits of Chocolate growing | |

|Chocolate a sweet remedy for many ills? |Labour Issues |

|Chocolate, cocoa `loaded with health benefits` |International Cocoa Initiative calls for elimination of child |

| |labour |

|Production and Quality | |

|Honduras boost Arts and Cacao production |Environmental Issue |

|Cocoa Project Management Unit established in Vietnam | |

|Cocoa output to fall in Ghana, Ivory Coast, ICCO Forecasts | |

| |Research & Development |

|The Market |A race to satisfy world's hunger for Chocolate |

|Cocoa and Chocolate product markets top 10 Global | |

| |Promotion & Consumption |

|Processing and Manufacturing | |

| | |

| |Others |

| |Ministers adopt International Cocoa Agreement |

In the News (from Newspapers worldwide)

ICCO Daily Cocoa Prices

| |ICCO Daily Price |ICCO Daily price |London futures |New York futures |

| |(SDR/tonne) |($US/tonne) |(£/tonne) |($US/tonne) |

| | | | | |

|26th March |1549.37 |2389.28 |1521.67 |2356.67 |

| | | | | |

|27th March |1555.41 |2407.85 |1534.67 |2367.67 |

| | | | | |

|28th March |1525.36 |2359.76 |1520.00 |2312.67 |

| | | | | |

|29th March |1483.45 |2292.03 |1473.67 |2242.33 |

| | | | | |

|30th March |1476.95 |2287.92 |1473.33 |2223.67 |

| | | | | |

| | | | | |

|Average |1518 |2347 |1505 |2301 |

International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE)

London Futures Market – Summary of Trading Activities

(£ per tone)

|Monday |26th March |2012 |  |  |  |  |

|Month |Opening Trans |Settle |Change |High |Low |Volume |

|May  2012 |1488 |1513 |21 |1516 |1482 |4,225 |

|Jul  2012 |1504 |1525 |16 |1527S |1497S |3,417 |

|Sep  2012 |1509 |1527 |12 |1529S |1500S |1,060 |

|Dec  2012 |1517 |1530 |10 |1533S |1507 |512 |

|Mar  2013 |1511 |1515 |9 |1519S |1492S |760 |

|May  2013 |1526 |1521 |8 |1526S |1518S |18 |

|Jul  2013 |  |1526 |5 |  |  |0 |

|Sep  2013 |1535 |1533 |5 |1535S |1535S |500 |

|Dec  2013 |  |1543 |5 |  |  |0 |

|Dec  2014 |  |1549 |5 |  |  |0 |

|Average/Totals |  |1528 |  |  |  |10,492 |

|Tuesday |27th March |2012 |  |  |  |  |

|Month |Opening Trans |Settle |Change |High |Low |Volume |

|May  2012 |1517 |1526 |13 |1538S |1516 |6,342 |

|Jul  2012 |1535 |1538 |13 |1549 |1526S |5,234 |

|Sep  2012 |1530 |1540 |13 |1550S |1530S |1,387 |

|Dec  2012 |1539 |1542 |12 |1552S |1529S |982 |

|Mar  2013 |1521 |1525 |10 |1535S |1515S |2,053 |

|May  2013 |1527 |1530 |9 |1537S |1525S |410 |

|Jul  2013 |  |1535 |9 |  |  |760 |

|Sep  2013 |  |1540 |7 |  |  |0 |

|Dec  2013 |  |1550 |7 |  |  |0 |

|Mar  2014 |  |1549 |0 |  |  |0 |

|Average/Totals |  |1538 |  |  |  |17,168 |

|Wednesday |28th March |2012 |  |  |  |  |

|Month |Opening Trans |Settle |Change |High |Low |Volume |

|May  2012 |1519 |1513 |-13 |1546 |1504S |11,938 |

|Jul  2012 |1530 |1523 |-15 |1555S |1516S |9,200 |

|Sep  2012 |1531 |1524 |-16 |1552S |1517S |2,773 |

|Dec  2012 |1535 |1524 |-18 |1552S |1519S |1,261 |

|Mar  2013 |1516 |1508 |-17 |1534 |1504 |1,368 |

|May  2013 |1532 |1512 |-18 |1540 |1506S |456 |

|Jul  2013 |1540 |1517 |-18 |1540S |1527S |500 |

|Sep  2013 |1534 |1522 |-18 |1534S |1534S |250 |

|Dec  2013 |  |1533 |-17 |  |  |0 |

|Mar  2014 |  |1527 |-22 |  |  |0 |

|Average/Totals |  |1521 |  |  |  |27,746 |

|Thursday |29th March |2012 |  |  |  |  |

|Month |Opening Trans |Settle |Change |High |Low |Volume |

|May  2012 |1502 |1463 |-50 |1506S |1455 |7,587 |

|Jul  2012 |1513 |1478 |-45 |1517S |1470 |6,535 |

|Sep  2012 |1515 |1480 |-44 |1518S |1474 |906 |

|Dec  2012 |1516 |1483 |-41 |1519 |1476S |1,947 |

|Mar  2013 |1501 |1469 |-39 |1505 |1462 |3,129 |

|May  2013 |1505 |1473 |-39 |1509 |1473 |803 |

|Jul  2013 |  |1478 |-39 |  |  |0 |

|Sep  2013 |  |1483 |-39 |  |  |0 |

|Dec  2013 |  |1494 |-39 |  |  |0 |

|Mar  2014 |  |1500 |-27 |  |  |0 |

|Average/Totals |  |1480 |  |  |  |20,907 |

|Month |Opening Trans |Settle |Change |High |Low |Volume |

|May  2012 |1453 |1462 |-1 |1478S |1453 |6,184 |

|Jul  2012 |1468 |1476 |-2 |1490S |1467 |4,545 |

|Sep  2012 |1471 |1482 |2 |1492S |1469 |1,170 |

|Dec  2012 |1474 |1485 |2 |1495S |1472 |1,466 |

|Mar  2013 |1466 |1470 |1 |1482 |1458S |1,435 |

|May  2013 |1475 |1474 |1 |1476S |1460 |73 |

|Jul  2013 |1472 |1480 |2 |1472 |1472 |18 |

|Sep  2013 |  |1485 |2 |  |  |0 |

|Dec  2013 |  |1495 |1 |  |  |0 |

|Mar  2014 |  |1500 |0 |  |  |0 |

|Average/Totals |  |1481 |  |  |  |

|  |  |  |  |  |2707 |

New York Board of Trade

(New York Futures Market – Summary of Trading Activities)

(US$ per tone)

|Monday |26th March |2012 |  |  |  |  |

|Month |Open |Price |Change |High |Low |Volume |

|May  2012 |2304 |2331 |24 |2344 |2290 |9,346 |

|Jul  2012 |2331 |2358 |26 |2371 |2318 |3,841 |

|Sep  2012 |2333 |2366 |26 |2380 |2332 |1,310 |

|Dec  2012 |2354 |2374 |26 |2381 |2347 |317 |

|Mar  2013 |2357 |2378 |25 |2390 |2357 |187 |

|May  2013 |0 |2392 |26 |0 |0 |21 |

|Jul  2013 |0 |2402 |27 |0 |0 |506 |

|Sep  2013 |0 |2409 |27 |0 |0 |0 |

|Dec  2013 |0 |2423 |27 |0 |0 |0 |

|Average/Totals |  |2381 |  |  |  |15528 |

|Tuesday |27th March |2012 |  |  |  |  |

|Month |Open |Price |Change |High |Low |Volume |

|May  2012 |2329 |2356 |25 |2384 |2321 |13,635 |

|Jul  2012 |2366 |2382 |24 |2408 |2347 |6,551 |

|Sep  2012 |2390 |2389 |23 |2413 |2361 |2,209 |

|Dec  2012 |2397 |2397 |23 |2419 |2368 |1,292 |

|Mar  2013 |2400 |2398 |20 |2423 |2375 |948 |

|May  2013 |2417 |2410 |18 |2433 |2404 |602 |

|Jul  2013 |0 |2421 |19 |0 |0 |7 |

|Sep  2013 |0 |2428 |19 |0 |0 |0 |

|Dec  2013 |0 |2442 |19 |0 |0 |0 |

|Average/Totals |  |2403 |  |  |  |25244 |

|Wednesday |28th March |2012 |  |  |  |  |

|Month |Open |Price |Change |High |Low |Volume |

|May  2012 |2332 |2295 |-61 |2375 |2285 |14,748 |

|Jul  2012 |2360 |2321 |-61 |2399 |2310 |4,900 |

|Sep  2012 |2361 |2330 |-59 |2402 |2321 |1,516 |

|Dec  2012 |2370 |2336 |-61 |2409 |2337 |648 |

|Mar  2013 |2400 |2341 |-57 |2408 |2335 |426 |

|May  2013 |2411 |2356 |-54 |2423 |2350 |314 |

|Jul  2013 |2375 |2370 |-51 |2375 |2375 |164 |

|Sep  2013 |0 |2377 |-51 |0 |0 |1 |

|Dec  2013 |0 |2391 |-51 |0 |0 |0 |

|Average/Totals |  |2346 |  |  |  |22717 |

|Thursday |29th March |2012 |  |  |  |  |

|Month |Open |Price |Change |High |Low |Volume |

|May  2012 |2291 |2223 |-72 |2297 |2194 |17,951 |

|Jul  2012 |2321 |2250 |-71 |2322 |2220 |9,910 |

|Sep  2012 |2330 |2263 |-67 |2330 |2236 |2,067 |

|Dec  2012 |2328 |2276 |-60 |2338 |2250 |1,168 |

|Mar  2013 |2335 |2280 |-61 |2340 |2261 |2,390 |

|May  2013 |2346 |2298 |-58 |2348 |2280 |466 |

|Jul  2013 |2345 |2312 |-58 |2355 |2300 |121 |

|Sep  2013 |2356 |2319 |-58 |2362 |2300 |100 |

|Dec  2013 |2359 |2331 |-60 |2359 |2308 |50 |

|Average/Totals |  |2284 |  |  |  |34223 |

|Friday |30th March |2012 |  |  |  |  |

|Month |Open |Price |Change |High |Low |Volume |

|May  2012 |2223 |2219 |-4 |2258 |2196 |15,685 |

|Jul  2012 |2248 |2246 |-4 |2282 |2222 |8,319 |

|Sep  2012 |2262 |2262 |-1 |2296 |2241 |1,964 |

|Dec  2012 |2278 |2276 |0 |2310 |2257 |1,170 |

|Mar  2013 |2288 |2281 |1 |2316 |2265 |1,460 |

|May  2013 |2330 |2295 |-3 |2330 |2283 |136 |

|Jul  2013 |0 |2312 |0 |0 |0 |38 |

|Sep  2013 |0 |2319 |0 |0 |0 |0 |

|Dec  2013 |0 |2329 |-2 |0 |0 |0 |

|Average/Totals |  |2282 |  |  |  |28772 |

|Average for the week  |2282 |  |  |  |5754 |

|  |  |  |  |  |5754 |

News

Bel Marra Health comments on recent study that says cocoa

could help reduce skeletal muscle related pain

Houston Chronicle

March 26, 2012

Toronto, ON (PRWEB) - Bel Marra Health, well known for offering high-quality, specially formulated vitamins and nutritional supplements, has commented on a small recent study that suggests cocoa could reduce skeletal muscle pain.

Recently, the UC San Diego School of Medicine and VA San Diego Healthcare System (VASDHS) has conducted a study on 5 patients with either severe type-2 diabetes or heart failure, all of whom had major skeletal muscle mitochondria damage.

The patients in the study were given dark chocolate bars and a chocolate beverage made from epicatechins-enriched cocoa, for a total intake of 100 mg of epicatechins per day. Biopsies of the skeletal muscles of the patients were taken before and after the treatment. After three months, all of the patients all showed a marked improvement in mitochondrial structure and volume, an increase in mitochondria production and consequently, an improved overall functional capacity.

Dr. Victor Marchione, an expert in Pulmonary Medicine and spokesperson for Bel Marra Health says, “the study was small, but encouraging nonetheless, and UC San Diego School of Medicine and VASDHS are currently planning a larger placebo controlled study to assess if epicatechins-rich cocoa can help improve exercise capacity in patients with heart failure and diabetes”.

Although more studies need to be done to confirm the effectiveness of cocoa as a skeletal muscle function enhancer, CEO of Bel Marra Health Jim Chiang says numerous studies have already conformed that cocoa delivers several health benefits. He says, “Cocoa is nutrient dense, and a great source of iron, fiber, magnesium and antioxidants. Not only does it act as a form of alternative pain relief in your body, it also appears to act as a natural antidepressant by boosting the levels of the “happy” neurotransmitter serotonin.”

Bel Marra Health offers quality vitamins and nutritional supplements in formulations designed to address specific health concerns. All ingredients are backed with scientific evidence. Every product is tested for safety, quality, and purity at every stage of the manufacturing process.

Furthermore, Bel Marra Health products are produced only in Health Canada approved facilities, going that extra mile to ensure our health conscious customers are getting top quality products. For more information on Bel Marra Health visit or call 1-866-531-0466.

Chocolate might help you lose weight

WHSV

By Litsa Pappas: lpappas@

Mar 27, 2012

New research says eating small amounts of dark chocolate can help you maintain your weight.

A James Madison University Health Sciences professor says that dark chocolate can help with digestion. She said having about one and a half ounces a day will help with weight loss. That's about the size of a square of chocolate. There's more cocoa in dark chocolate which means there's less sugar.

She said she's been studying the effects of cocoa, and so far she has found multiple benefits. "Cocoa has multiple effects," said Assistant Professor of Health Sciences Melissa Rittenhouse. "One it has flavonoids: which contain antioxidants, which according to this article, I didn't study it, were improving the mitochondrial and the cells which improve oxidation and help the metabolism and break down the food components."

Health benefits of Chocolate growing

WebMD

By Kathleen Doheny

March 29, 2012

(San Diego) -- Chocolate is increasingly shedding its reputation as a sweet treat only. More research is uncovering health benefits when the dark stuff is eaten in moderation.

At the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society here, a three-hour symposium was devoted to cocoa science and technology. Cocoa researchers from around the world gathered to share their latest findings, passing chocolate bars around the audience as they talked science.

Here is an update on questions chocolate lovers may have.

The Sweet History of Chocolate

What can chocolate do for your heart health?

While some heart benefits of chocolate are solid, others are still under debate, says Eric Ding, PhD, instructor of medicine and nutritional epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School. At the symposium, he discussed his review of 24 published studies on chocolate.

The studies included more than 1,100 people. Researchers looked at how their chocolate-eating habits affected their heart disease risk factors such as high blood pressure. "The blood pressure-lowering effect is well known," he says. His team found that, on average, systolic blood pressure declined slightly, less than two points on average, in chocolate eaters. Systolic blood pressure is the top number of a blood pressure measurement, and in people older than 50, this can be a stronger risk factor for heart disease than the lower, or diastolic, measurement.

There is also solid evidence that chocolate can increase HDL or "good" cholesterol, Ding and his colleagues found. In general, the lower your LDL and the higher your HDL, the better your chances of preventing heart disease and other chronic conditions.

With chocolate, insulin resistance improved, a benefit if you have diabetes or want to avoid it, Ding says. Blood flow also improved with a bit of chocolate, another benefit, he says. "Altogether the results suggest strong benefits against cardiovascular disease," Ding tells WebMD.

What else can chocolate do?

Other studies on the health benefits of chocolate are in earlier phases and are preliminary.

Chocolate may help those with type 2 diabetes minimize the ill effects of high blood sugar levels after eating, says Stephen L. Atkin, MD, a researcher at the Hull York Medical School in the U.K. He gave 10 patients with type 2 diabetes small amounts of chocolate an hour before he gave them glucose to simulate a meal. He found improvements in their blood vessel functioning, which in turn could help reduce heart disease risk.

Chocolate may help patients with congestive heart failure, says Francisco Villarreal, MD, PhD, a professor at the University of California, San Diego, who also spoke at the symposium. In congestive heart failure, the heart doesn't pump enough blood to meet the body's needs.

In a small study with five patients, he gave them about 100 milligrams of a flavonol called epicatechin, found in chocolate, every day for three months. He measured a substance called nitric oxide, which regulates the contractibility of the blood vessels and affects blood pressure. He found "a very significant increase" in nitric oxide levels.

Other research, which has not yet progressed to people, is looking at the potential of chocolate to treat migraine as well as inhibit colon cancer.

Is all this research likely to be a flash in the pan, a fad that disappears?

The cocoa scientists think not. They've formed the International Society of Chocolate and Cocoa in Medicine. It has scheduled its first international meeting for 2012.

What is the ''magic'' ingredient in chocolate?

A flavonol called epicatechin, an antioxidant, turns up in much chocolate research. "The flavonol epicatechin warrants further study,'' Villarreal says. It seems to have an effect on the powerhouse of the cell, known as the mitochondria. "Many diseases, including Alzheimer's, seem to have a mitochondrial component," he says.

He suspects the antioxidant properties aren't the whole reason epicatechin has benefits.

Reality check: How much chocolate is enough?

The doses used in studies are all over the place. However, scientists involved in cocoa research seem to love the words "in moderation." At this point, there is no established serving size of chocolate for heart health. A moderate portion size of chocolate is about 1 ounce.

In his studies, Villarreal has found that half a square is the ''sweet spot" for good effects.

Dark chocolate is most often studied and found to have health effects.

A serving a day would be considered moderate, says Rene D. Massengale, PhD, a food chemist in Bloomington, Ind., and a spokesperson for the Institute for Food Technologists. She reviewed the findings but was not involved in the research. She has consulted in the past for Hershey's.

Perspective is crucial, she says. "Eating a lot of chocolate because you think you are going to get the health benefit, but having a 3,000-calorie diet, is not going to do you any good," she tells WebMD.

Reality check: How much chocolate is enough? continued...

Eating chocolate definitely won't lower your body mass index (BMI), Ding tells WebMD. He disputes the conclusion of a research letter published this week in the Archives of Internal Medicine, finding that regular chocolate eaters have lower BMIs.

His review of 24 rigorous studies, he says, finds no effect. "The cocoa flavonoids absolutely yield no BMI or weight change," he says. And those chocolate bars that were passed around at the meeting? By any chocolate lover's standard, they would have to be described as teeny.

Chocolate a sweet remedy for many ills?

KFVS

By Lisa Esposito

Mar 29, 2012

THURSDAY, March 29 (HealthDay News) -- International researchers have uncovered even more healthy properties of flavanols -- the antioxidants found in cocoa beans.

Eighteen chocolate-centered studies -- including investigations of how cocoa might affect blood pressure, heart disease, painful nerve disorders and cancer risk -- were to be presented Wednesday at the American Chemical Society's annual meeting in San Diego.

Some caveats: Most of the studies have not yet been accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal, so those findings are preliminary. Many studies were also small in scope, with relatively few participants. And some were animal studies, and results might not translate to humans.

While larger, observational studies have shown possible health benefits from dark chocolate or cocoa, this new research begins to explore how those benefits occur, explained Dr. Gregg Fonarow, a professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

"The thing to keep in mind: All of these are very small studies," Fonarow said. "But they are important steps in investigating the mechanisms by which chocolate or cocoa may have beneficial cardiovascular effects."

Several of the studies suggested that cocoa might protect against inflammation. "One of the presumed mechanisms by which cocoa or dark chocolate could be beneficial, or flavonoids in general, is through the mechanism of decreasing vascular inflammation," part of the process leading to strokes and heart attack, Fonarow noted.

For instance, in a study involving obese mice, researchers found that adding cocoa to their high-fat diet slowed down their weight gain.

The mice "have elevated body fat, fasting blood glucose and serum insulin levels. And they have markers for systemic inflammation," said study author Joshua Lambert, an assistant professor of food science at Pennsylvania State University.

After supplementing the animals' diets with cocoa, "we saw that these markers of systemic inflammation went back down to the same level as they would be in mice that were on a low-fat diet," Lambert said. "So it seems like we're able to take this inflammatory response and reduce it back to the level you see in lean mice."

In another study from Italy, 40 people, half of whom were smokers, were randomly assigned to receive either dark chocolate or milk chocolate. Dark chocolate only was found to reduce "oxidative stress" involved in dangerous clot formation -- and only in smokers.

"The results, suggesting that dark chocolate can reduce oxidative stress and subsequent disease in smokers are intriguing and certainly worthy of further study," said Dr. Thomas Glynn, director of cancer science and trends and international cancer control for the American Cancer Society.

"The authors establish the biological plausibility of antioxidant effects of dark chocolate in a small [group] of smokers and demonstrate the potential harm-reducing effects for smokers of eating dark chocolate," Glynn said.

But, he added, "great caution is necessary, however, in interpreting the results of studies regarding the possible health benefits of dark chocolate -- none of the evidence to date is definitive and is based on small studies with limited time duration. No one, despite the enjoyment of dark chocolate, should consider using it as a substitute for healthy eating, getting exercise and above all, stopping smoking."

Also being presented at the meeting is a meta-analysis of human research on cocoa flavonoids and cardiac risk factors. The analysis, which combined data from 24 studies on 1,106 people, appeared in the Journal of Nutrition last September. "Cocoa lowered blood pressure, lowered LDL ['bad'] cholesterol, raised HDL cholesterol -- the good cholesterol -- and improved insulin resistance," said senior study author Eric Ding, a nutritionist, epidemiologist and faculty member at Harvard Medical School. He said cocoa also might have a role in dilating vessels to improve blood flow.

Ding warned not to look for health benefits from your favorite milk chocolate candy bar. "It's not a chocolate study -- it's cocoa flavonoid," he said.

In his study, Lambert said, "we used unsweetened regular cocoa powder. How that relates to chocolate -- there's a couple of degrees of separation. Because when you make chocolate you add fat, in the form of cocoa butter and sugar." Lambert added, "Nobody's going to eat a tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa."

But how will people take their "medicine?"

"It's one of those issues, should you get it in a conventional or fortified product or a supplement?" Ding said. "The dose [of cocoa-flavonoid compound] on average is 400 to 500 milligrams -- equivalent to 32 bars of milk chocolate or eight to nine bars of dark chocolate."

In other new research:

* A study of 30 adults, published in the Journal of Proteome Research, found that eating a small amount of dark chocolate daily reduced stress hormones. This study came out of the Swiss-based Nestle Research Center, run by the chocolate-making company.

* An Italian study concluded that flavanol-rich chocolate lowers blood pressure by 6 milligrams of mercury (mmHg) in systolic blood pressure (the top number) and 3 mmHg in diastolic pressure. "That magnitude of blood pressure reduction would be clinically relevant if sustained, and clearly done in placebo-controlled double-blind studies," Fonarow said.

* A small pilot study from England had people with type 2 diabetes eat high- and low-flavanol chocolate an hour before a meal. Those who ate the high-flavanol chocolate improved in some measures of heart disease risk.

* In studies on rats, researchers in Missouri found evidence that cocoa ingredients soothe excitability of the trigeminal nerve, involved in migraines and temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ).

* One rat study from Spain suggested that cocoa might reduce colon cancer risk by destroying precancerous cells, and another hinted that it offered protection from liver damage, by inhibiting enzymes involved in inflammation.

Chocolate, cocoa `loaded with health benefits`

Zee News

ANI

March 29, 2012

Washington: Experts from across the world recently reported about the emerging health benefits and other aspects of chocolate - the food that has delighted people for almost 2,000 years.

“Chocolate is one of the foods with the greatest appeal to the general population,” said Sunil Kochhar, PhD, one of the symposium participants at at the 243rd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

“The luscious aroma, taste and textures of chocolate have delighted the senses of people in many parts of the world for centuries and make it a well-known comfort food.”

Kochhar, who is with the Nestle Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland, is noted for landmark research that is helping to establish chocolate’s potential health benefits. He described one study, for instance, detailing the biochemical basis for chocolate’s reputation as a comfort food.

The study, which included 30 healthy adults, found that eating about an ounce and a half of dark chocolate per day reduced levels of stress hormones and other indicators of emotional anxiety in people who felt stressed-out.

“The flavonoids and other ingredients in chocolate with beneficial health effects originate in cocoa,” Kochhar explained.

“In making chocolate, cocoa seeds undergo natural fermentation before being processed into key ingredients for making chocolate — namely cocoa fat and cocoa powder.”

Among other presentations at the symposium, scientists reported about how the introduction of new varieties of the cacao tree that resist “witch’s broom,” a fungal disease that has decimated some crops, may affect the taste of cocoa and chocolate.

That chocolate may be useful in treating of diseases involving disorders of the trigeminal nerve, including migraine and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder.

The study found evidence that cocoa contains biologically active ingredients that soothe the nerve’s excitability, a probable cause of these disorders.

Findings about the biological basis of chocolate’s anti-inflammatory effects. Its rich content of polyphenols inhibit secretion of certain enzymes into the small intestine that cause inflammation.

How chocolate may be helpful in fighting cardiovascular problems for individuals with type 2 diabetes. Flavonoids in the chocolate strengthen mitochondria, the powerhouse of body cells, which are in a weakened condition in patients with cardiovascular problems.

On chocolate and high blood pressure. They found that flavonoids in chocolate lower blood pressure and thus might help in reducing heart disease risks.

A cocoa-rich diet may reduce the risk of colon cancer by preventing undesirable changes in the cells or destroying cells that form precancerous lesions.

That epicatechin, a beneficial antioxidant especially rich in dark chocolate, strengthens cell membranes and offers protection from some forms of cardiovascular disease.

Feeding chocolate to animals in laboratory experiments helped protect their livers from damage that can lead to liver disease.

Chocolate consumption may be especially beneficial for cigarette smokers. Polyphenols in the dark chocolate act on blood platelets to prevent clot formation.

Honduras boost Arts and Cacao production

Prensa Latina

26 de marzo de 2012

San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Mar 26 (Prensa Latina) As an attraction for foreign visitors, cocoa producers in Honduras today promote their products associated with the art and traditions.

A marriage devoted entirely to this plant and the culture associated with it, highlighting its benefits through the project Savor y Arte, S. de RL. Miriam Colindres and Javier Campos culled curiosities and beauties of this product to their program.

They explained to Prensa Latina that their project was born from the bohemian spirit and meeting point between the taste of tradition and artistic creativity of Honduran talent.

Colindres is also the president of the Honduran Women's Network Producing Cocoa and Chocolate (Redmuch), which seeks to combine efforts of a group of females producing, processing and marketing cocoa and chocolate in this country.

According Colindres, her highest aspiration is to attend courses of chocolate in the Latin American school of this specialty, opened in Cuba, in order to promote this product in her country and the various ways to offer it.

Among the stated objectives by Colindres is facilitating the exchange of views, promote domestic consumption of Honduran chocolate, highlighting the quality of cocoa producers, and create partnerships access to markets.

They also seek to link with women's organizations linked to cocoa locally and internationally and spread the role of females in the production chain of this plant, in addition to representing women producers of cocoa in all instances.

Cocoa Project Management Unit established in Vietnam

Food Ingredients First (press release)

Source:Food Ingredients First

28 Mar 2012

The cocoa PMU, which comes under the responsibility of the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), is dedicated to strengthening the long-term growth of sustainable cocoa development in Vietnam.

28 Mar 2012 --- Cargill and the cocoa Public-Private Partnership (PPP), which includes the Vietnamese government, the government of Netherlands, the Rabobank Foundation, other commercial participants including Mars Incorporated, as well as NGOs, have jointly established a cocoa Project Management Unit (PMU).

The cocoa PMU, which comes under the responsibility of the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), is dedicated to strengthening the long-term growth of sustainable cocoa development in Vietnam.

The cocoa PMU complements Cargill’s Sustainable Cocoa Program which works to improve the lives of cocoa farmers and their families, and to secure long term sustainability of cocoa production. It will also focus on helping Vietnam’s cocoa farmers meet growing demand for high-quality certified and sustainable cocoa beans.“Vietnam is playing an increasing role in the Asian agriculture market and the cocoa Project Management Unit signifies the government’s commitment to developing the industry,” said Greg Page, Cargill chairman and chief executive officer. “Cargill is pleased to be a valued partner in Vietnam’s plans for a sustainable, high-quality cocoa sector.”

Immediate priorities for the Unit include enhancing cocoa research, improved farming practices to increase yields; improving market access, advocating independent certification; and engaging with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and other institutions to drive sustainable development of the cocoa sector.

Cargill has been working in Vietnam since 2004 to develop the cocoa sector, providing the expertise for construction of seedling houses and production of high-quality seedlings, as well as training for farmers.

Since 2004, 12,000 farmers have been trained in good agricultural cocoa practices, such as pest control and cocoa fermentation, enabling them to increase their yields and incomes. From 2010 to 2011, 900 farmers received further advanced training to bring them up to UTZ Certified standards. For 2011 to 2012, the target is for an additional 1,000 farmers to receive such training.

Cargill has also built three buying stations close to cocoa growing areas, providing easy access to the market for Vietnamese farmers.

In 2011, Cargill reached a major milestone with the delivery of UTZ Certified sustainable beans from the first three certified farmers’ organisations in Vietnam. UTZ Certified sustainable cocoa provides a higher value, branded-marketing opportunity for Vietnamese cocoa producers. Through 2011, the number of certified farmers’ organisations rose to six, and the goal is to add another four farmer organizations by the end of 2012.

Cocoa output to fall in Ghana, Ivory Coast, ICCO Forecasts

Bloomberg

By Nathan Gill - ngill4@

Mar 30, 2012

Cocoa production in Ivory Coast and Ghana, the world’s two top suppliers, will fall this year because of dry weather in both countries and a civil war in Ivory Coast, the International Cocoa Organization said.

Global cocoa production in the 2011-2012 growing season will be 71,000 metric tons short of demand, unchanged from the February forecast, Jean-Marc Anga, the group’s executive director, told reporters today in Guayaquil, Ecuador, at the close of ICCO’s annual meeting.

A five-month conflict in Ivory Coast, following a disputed presidential election in November 2010, led to a cocoa-export ban which drove prices to a 32-year high in March 2011. Dry weather in the two West African nations is adding to supply problems, Anga said today.

Ivory Coast is “highly unlikely to meet the same level this year,” Anga said. “The same with production in neighboring country Ghana, they are affected by the same climatic conditions and production will also go down.”

Cocoa production in Ivory Coast will decline to about 1.3 million metric tons during the season after reaching a record 1.56 million tons a year earlier, Anga said. Output in Ghana will be 970,000 tons. The harvest in Indonesia, the world’s third-biggest producer, should reach 500,000 tons.

The ICCO is “very optimistic” about demand for the bean, as well as cocoa butter and powder, as consumption increases in emerging markets including China and India, Anga said.

Cocoa and Chocolate product markets top 10 Global

Sacramento Bee

By Reportlinker

Mar. 28, 2012

NEW YORK, March 28, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ -- announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue:

Cocoa and Chocolate Product Markets Top 10 Global

This market research report package offers an in-depth perspective on the actual market situation, trends and future outlook for cocoa and chocolate products in top 10 global markets.

The top 10 global market analysis package includes the following countries:

United States, China, Japan, India, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Mexico and South Korea

The analysis package provides essential market information for decision-makers including:

* Overall market value for cocoa and chocolate products by country

* Overall market volume for cocoa and chocolate products by country

* Market value and volume for cocoa and chocolate products by type (cocoa butter, defatted cocoa paste, not defatted cocoa paste, sweetened cocoa powder, unsweetened cocoa powder, other chocolate and cocoa products)

* Product prices

* Forecasts and future outlook of the market

* Country overview, macroeconomic indicators and indicators of doing business

These market analyses answer to questions such as:

* What is the size of the cocoa and chocolate product market in different countries?

* How is the market divided into different types of products? Which products are growing fast?

* How the market has been developing? How does the future look like?

* What is the potential for the market?

* How the indicators of doing business look like? For example, how easily the contracts are being enforced, or what is the inflation rate and how is it developing?

Ghana faces Ivory Coast stiff competition in hosting ICCO headquarters – Report

Ghana Business News

By Ekow Quandzie

March 25, 2012

Ghana is said to have expressed interest in hosting the headquarters of the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) as the organization plans relocating its office outside London due to high cost of rent.

But Ghana, the world’s second largest cocoa producer, faces strong competition from the world’s number one cocoa grower Ivory Coast.

A report by the UK Financial Times (FT) March 22, 2012 said negotiations about moving the ICCO headquarters out of London to Abidjan have been on the cards for about a decade but the issue has been held up due to years of civil war and security issues in the Ivory Coast, while countries including Ghana and Ecuador have also expressed interest in hosting the organisation.

Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, who won the country’s elections in 2010 but only took full control of Ivory Coast in 2011 after a power struggle with his predecessor Laurent Gbagbo, is offering to house the ICCO in Abidjan rent free for ten years during which the organisation would build its offices in the capital, the FT reports.

Calls put through by to the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) to ascertain the position of the country on the matter proved futile as officials declined to comment.

The relocation is said be on the agenda at the organisation’s semi-annual meeting in Ecuador next week. Experts believe Ivory Coast is likely to win the bid.

The ICCO is an intergovernmental group representing leading producers and consumers of cocoa. Since its inception in 1973, the ICCO has been headquartered in London, home to the benchmark NYSE Liffe cocoa futures contract.

International Cocoa Initiative calls for elimination of child labour

Ghana Business News

March 29, 2012

Ms Patience Dapaah, National Coordinator of the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), a charitable foundation, has advocated a holistic approach to the elimination of child labour rather than concentrating on specific farms.

She said there should be measures such as government action and national capacity building, community and household empowerment, improvement in the cocoa supply chain, integration and coordination of approaches and designing, monitoring and evaluation of interventions.

Ms Dapaah made the call at the end of a two-day ICI partner’s workshop to share ideas on a three separate studies commissioned to address the challenges of eliminating child labour from the cocoa sector in Ghana in Accra on Wednesday.

The three studies were titled: “Daily life, social norms and child labour in cocoa producing communities,” “Study of migrant flows and child mobility to the Cocoa producing communities in Ghana,” and “Emerging good practice in combating the worst forms of child labour in West African Cocoa growing communities.” She said the State needs to allocate adequate budget for child development and create a national and district child and social protection systems for national development.

Ms Dapaah called on the media to partner stakeholders in the elimination of child labour since they reach a wider audience. She commended government for putting interventions and structures in place like the National Plan of Action for the elimination of the menace for national development.

Mr Guy Massart, a researcher, said children migrating from their communities to the urban areas were largely to make money, to be assured of daily food and to become independent of their parents. He said migration of children was a coping strategy, which should not be confused with trafficking, which was criminal.

Mr Massart called on government to provide better social protection systems for the affected families and children, adding that “schools needs to be more beneficial and profitable to children, it should go beyond helping to read and write”.

Mrs Martina Odonkor, a consultant, said the study on Daily life, social norms and child labour in cocoa producing communities was to assess the general situation in terms of socio-cultural norms in cocoa growing communities. “To establish a set of adhoc recommendations based on the materials collected in the field and analysis,” she noted. She explained that these recommendations would allow for a strategy to be developed that would take into account the improved and contextualised model for intervention in the communities.

A race to satisfy world's hunger for Chocolate

Wall Street Journal

By LESLIE JOSEPHS at leslie.josephs@

March 29, 2012

TARAPOTO, Peru—Fredy Pinchi Pinchi trudges through the Amazon jungle here on a mission: to save the world's chocolate.

The 31-year-old agronomist is in search of a hardier and more-prolific cocoa tree. His progress—and that of researchers like him in other cocoa-growing regions—is being closely watched some of by the biggest players in the candy world, such as Mars Inc., maker of M&M's, and Blommer Chocolate Co., a chocolate supplier to many major food companies. Driving the efforts to find better trees are concerns that farmed cocoa now comes from plants that are too old, fragile and low-yielding to satisfy the world's growing taste for chocolate.

As global demand for chocolate grows, nature can't keep up. So scientists in the Peruvian Amazon are trying to figure out how to increase the world's output of cocoa beans, chocolate's key ingredient. Video and reporting by WSJ's Leslie Josephs.

TARAPOTO, Peru—Fredy Pinchi Pinchi trudges through the Amazon jungle here on a mission: to save the world's chocolate.

The 31-year-old agronomist is in search of a hardier and more-prolific cocoa tree. His progress—and that of researchers like him in other cocoa-growing regions—is being closely watched some of by the biggest players in the candy world, such as Mars Inc., maker of M&M's, and Blommer Chocolate Co., a chocolate supplier to many major food companies. Driving the efforts to find better trees are concerns that farmed cocoa now comes from plants that are too old, fragile and low-yielding to satisfy the world's growing taste for chocolate.

As global demand for chocolate grows, nature can't keep up. So scientists in the Peruvian Amazon are trying to figure out how to increase the world's output of cocoa beans, chocolate's key ingredient. Video and reporting by WSJ's Leslie Josephs.

Due to rising demand in emerging markets, food companies and commodity traders are forecasting that global consumption of cocoa will surge by 25%, to about five million metric tons, by 2020. Industry officials and market experts say new and better cocoa plants are vital to future supplies—and to keeping chocolate an affordable luxury.

"I'm looking for an elite plant. That's the goal," Mr. Pinchi said. "There are a lot of people who depend on cocoa."

Time, though, is running out. The process of grafting different kinds of cocoa trees to achieve the right genetic mix takes years, and it is far from a sure thing. Once planted, it takes at least four years for the trees to start bearing cocoa beans fit for processing. "For the long-term health of the cocoa industry, high-yielding cocoa varieties need to be identified, propagated and distributed," said Kip Walk, head of cocoa at Blommer Chocolate.

In the meantime, existing trees continue to struggle with the forces of nature. In West Africa, the world's biggest cocoa-growing region, blasts of hot wind earlier this year seared plants. The prospect of a damaged harvest has pushed cocoa prices up 15% from a three-year low hit in early December. Cocoa futures on Thursday ended at $2,223 a ton, down 3.1% for the day.

Given the fragile state of cocoa trees under cultivation and strong demand, it is only a matter of time before a shortage of cocoa emerges and prices surge, said Julian Rundle, chief investment officer at Dorset Management, an alternative-investment manager.

"The major move, when it comes, is going to be a bull move," Mr. Rundle predicted—meaning prices will rise.

Already, demand for cocoa is forecast to outpace supply this year by 71,000 metric tons, according to estimates from the London-based International Cocoa Organization.

Only a fraction of the thousands of varieties of cocoa trees in existence are grown to produce the world's chocolate, because farming cocoa has historically been a low-margin business that hasn't attracted investment. This practice of growing genetically similar plants leaves entire populations vulnerable if they are stricken with a disease for which they have no resistance.

Splashing through a sudden rainstorm, Mr. Pinchi is out to change that. He weaves among muddy rows of saplings, cradling lemon- and lime-colored pods and checking their weight and size. He and his team at the Tropical Crops Institute, a research center in Peru's northern highland jungle, have collected hundreds of cocoa varieties from South America's thick rain forest and are testing their ability to yield more and bigger beans. Researchers in Ivory Coast and Ghana are conducting similar work.

The cocoa tree's scientific name is Theobroma cacao, which means "food of the gods" in Greek. As chocolate went from being a treat for special occasions to an everyday indulgence, swaths of rain forest were chopped down in the 1970s and '80s to make room for cocoa farms, which now cover roughly 7.4 million hectares (18.3 million acres).

But the industry was dealt a blow when a fungus known as witches' broom swept through Brazil. It more than halved Brazil's cocoa output between 1990 and 2010.

Industry executives hope to stave off another cocoa crisis, which is why they are pinning hopes on researchers like Mr. Pinchi. Expanding acreage isn't an option due to widespread opposition to further deforestation in the tropics—the only places cocoa can thrive.

"By 2020, we need another Côte d'Ivoire," said Howard-Yana Shapiro, Mars's director of plant science and external research, referring to the Ivory Coast. Mr. Shapiro led a team that was credited with mapping the genome for the cocoa tree in September 2010. He keeps close tabs on the work conducted by Mr. Pinchi's institute and other researchers.

"There are two alternatives. One, we cut down all the trees in the tropics and only plant cocoa, which would be an unmitigated disaster. Or we increase [yields]," Mr. Shapiro said.

To be sure, higher prices on chocolate would likely cause demand growth to moderate. Slower growth would mean a target as high as five million metric tons a year of cocoa wouldn't be necessary.

While Kona Haque, a commodities strategist at Macquarie Bank, MQG.AU +1.04% agrees cocoa prices are likely to rise, she says some forecasts calling for the doubling of prices over the long term are extreme.

Increased use of fertilizer can boost output while scientists experiment with different kinds of plants, Ms. Haque said.

"Demand will grow steadily, but, with the right price, so can supply," she said. "I'd expect cocoa prices to rise 50% in 10 years."

Mr. Pinchi, though, is optimistic that he or one of his colleagues will strike upon the right tree before high prices sour consumers on chocolate.

"The Amazon is the origin of cocoa," he said. "There's a lot of diversity, which gives us many options."

Ministers adopt International Cocoa Agreement



27 March 2012

The Council formally adopted, on 26 March, the 2010 International Cocoa Agreement, which provides a new framework for promoting international cooperation in the cocoa world economy. It replaces a 2001 version and has already been signed by the three largest cocoa exporters (Ghana, Indonesia and the Ivory Coast) as well as by the Dominican Republic and Switzerland. It was also signed by the EU, in June 2011, and has been provisionally applied since then. MEPs gave their consent to the agreement, on 14 March. The provisions of said agreement will be supervised by the International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO), whose members represent almost 85% of world cocoa production and over 60% of cocoa consumers.

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Do your health a favour, drink Cocoa everyday

‘It’s nature’s miracle food’

o Meeting of the International Organizing Committee for the 17th International Cocoa Research Conference, (ICRC) Yaounde, Cameroon, 24th April to 3rd May 2012.

• ICCO DAILY COCOA PRICES

• LONDON (LIFFE) FUTURES MARKET UPDATE

• NEW YORK (ICE) FUTURES MARKET UPDATE

• FROM THE NEWS MEDIA

UP-COMING EVENTS IN THIS ISSUE

Inside THIS ISSE:

ISSUE NO. 485 26TH – 30TH MARCH 2012

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Research & Development

Environmental Issue

Labour Issues

Business & Economy

Processing & Manufacturing

The Market

Production & Quality

Health and Nutrition

NEWS

Others

Promotion & Consumption

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