COPAL COCOA Info



COPAL COCOA Info

A Weekly Newsletter of Cocoa Producers' Alliance

Issue No. 232 21st – 25th May 2007

ICCO Daily Cocoa Prices

| |ICCO daily |London |New York |

| |price |futures |Futures |

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

| | | | |

|21st May |2053.29 |1086.33 |1971.67 |

| | | | |

|22nd May |2034.66 |1071.33 |1956.33 |

| | | | |

|23rd May |2069.77 |1083.00 |1992.00 |

| | | | |

|24th May |2033.84 |1065.33 |1958.00 |

| | | | |

|25th May |2019.93 |1057.33 |1946.67 |

| | | | |

|Average |2042.00 |1073.00 |1965.00 |

Up-coming Events

|Health & Nutrition |Production & Quality |

|Cocoa extract may be an effective natural alternative to|World Cocoa Foundation Partners with USAID to |

|fluoride in toothpaste |Improve Education in West African Cocoa |

|Barry Callebaut unlocks the secrets to cocoa flavour |Communities |

|Nutrition Notes: The Chocolate Conundrum |Cameroon: Jonas Mva Mva, "We Have Reduced Use of|

|Diet will help you lose weight, lift your spirits |Chemicals by 40 % " |

|'Cocoa' toothpaste could replace fluoride |Rains Bring Hope for West Africa's Main Cocoa |

|A Second Chance to Save Chocolate |Crop |

|Barry Callebaut presents findings on cocoa research | |

|Some dark chocolate a day keeps the doctor away |Others |

|Scientists look to cocoa husk fibre for low calorie |Celebrating 100 years of the park that chocolate|

|foods |built |

|Flavonoids and heart disease |La Nina may rear its head, keep farmers on toes |

| |World Cocoa Production and Estimates - ICO |

| |COCOBOD launches 60th anniversary celebration |

In the News (from Newspapers worldwide)

International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE)

London Futures Market – Summary of Trading Activities

(£ per tonne)

|Monday |21st May |2007 |  |  |  |  |

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

|Jul  2007  |1095 |1089 |-1 |1098 |1072 |6812 |

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

|Jul  2007  |1090 |1073 |-16 |1092 |1065 |3166 |

|Wednesday |23rd May |2007 |  |  |  |  |

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

|Jul  2007  |1072 |1086 |13 |1092 |1066 |3518 |

|Thursday |24th May |2007 |  |  |  |  |

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

|Jul  2007  |1083 |1066 |-20 |1093 |1042 |4202 |

|Friday |25th May |2007 |  |  |  |  |

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

|Jul  2007  |1064 |1057 |-9 |1079 |1054 |2953 |

|Dec  2007  |1060 |1056 |-6 |1078 |1055S |446 |

|Mar  2007  |1074 |1062 |-2 |1078 |1058 |244 |

|May  2008  |1077 |1069 |-1 |1080 |1074 |65 |

|Jul  2008  |  |1075 |-1 |  |  |0 |

|Sep  2008  |1085 |1082 |-1 |1085S |1085S |1 |

|Dec  2008  |1099 |1091 |-2 |1101S |1094S |45 |

|Mar  2008  |  |1105 |-2 |  |  |0 |

|May  2009  |  |1107 |-2 |  |  |0 |

|Totals |  |1076 |  |  |  |4,515 |

|Average for the week  |1083 |  |  |  |7812 |

|Total for the week |  |  |  |  |39,062 |

New York Board of Trade

(New York Futures Market – Summary of Trading Activities)

(US$ per tonne)

|Monday |21st May |2007 |  |  |  |  |

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

|Jul  2007  |1928  1930 |1949 |2 |1955 |1928 |4835 |

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

|Jul  2007  |1950  0 |1923 |-26 |1967 |1913 |6349 |

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

|Jul  2007  |1938  1940 |1972 |49 |1980 |1935 |8205 |

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

|Jul  2007  |1962  1963 |1943 |-29 |1985 |1925 |8544 |

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

|Jul  2007  |1960  1963 |1928 |-15 |1964 |1910 |

|Total for the week |  |  |  |  |50,273 |

|Spot Prices (US$ per tonne) |

| |21st May |22nd May |23rd May |24th May |25th \May |

|Main Crop Ghana, Grade 1 |2326 |2296 |2345 |2316 |2301 |

|Main Crop Ivory Coast, Grade 1 |2252 |2226 |2275 |2246 |2231 |

|Main Crop Nigerian, 1 |2222 |2198 |2247 |2218 |2203 |

|Superior Arriba |2732 |2715 |2764 |2735 |2720 |

|Sanchez f.a.q. |2236 |2203 |2252 |2223 |2208 |

|Malaysian 110 |1949 |1923 |1972 |1943 |1928 |

|Sulawesi f.a.q. |2019 |1991 |2040 |2011 |1996 |

|Ecuador Cocoa Liquor |3736 |3686 |3780 |3724 |3695 |

|Pure Prime Press African Type |5652 |5545 |5686 |5602 |5559 |

|Cocoa Butter | | | | | |

|10/12% Natural Cocoa Press Cake |929 |917 |940 |926 |919 |

Source: Cocoa Merchants’ Association

News

Health & Nutrition

Cocoa extract may be an effective natural alternative to fluoride in toothpaste

Medical Research News

Sunday, 20-May-2007

For a healthy smile brush between meals, floss regularly and eat plenty of chocolate. According to Tulane University doctoral candidate Arman Sadeghpour, an extract of cocoa powder that occurs naturally in chocolates, teas, and other products might be an effective natural alternative to fluoride in toothpaste. In fact, his research revealed that the cocoa extract was even more effective than fluoride in fighting cavities.

The extract, a white crystalline powder whose chemical makeup is similar to caffeine, helps harden teeth enamel, making users less susceptible to tooth decay. The cocoa extract could offer the first major innovation to commercial toothpaste since manufacturers began adding fluoride to toothpaste in 1914.

The extract has been proven effective in the animal model, but it will probably be another two to four years before the product is approved for human use and available for sale, Sadeghpour says. But he has already created a prototype of peppermint flavored toothpaste with the cavity-fighting cocoa extract added, and his doctoral thesis research compared the extract side by side to fluoride on the enamel surface of human teeth.

Sadeghpour's research group included scientists from Tulane, the University of New Orleans, and Louisiana State University's School of Dentistry. Sadeghpour will earn his PhD in bioinformatics and a master's in computer science from Tulane University on May 19.

Barry Callebaut unlocks the secrets to cocoa flavour

By Catherine Boal

21/05/2007 - Leading cocoa producer Barry Callebaut has discovered the specific bacteria responsible for flavour creation during extensive research into cocoa bean fermentation - enabling the company to produce better quality chocolate in the future. The chocolate maker teamed up with the University of Brussels to investigate the cocoa bean fermentation process. They were attempting to make production more efficient, improve product quality and learn about flavour, aroma and how these relate to processing techniques.

Researchers discovered that fermentation quality is linked to lactic and acetic acid bacteria breaking down citric acid and sugars. The process by which the bacteria resisted acid and tolerated alcohol and heat impacted on the taste of the chocolate created. Barry Callebaut innovation manager Herwig Bernaert said: "Studying the microbiological and biochemical reactions that occur during the fermentation process of the cocoa bean helps to increase our knowledge. With these new findings we can further influence our entire chocolate-making process."

Fermentation of cocoa beans takes around five to seven days, during which time the signature cocoa aroma develops. Scientists from the University of Brussels travelled to Ghana - the world's second largest cocoa growing region - to study the process as it occurs on plantations. Barry Callebaut has a significant presence in Ghana with its operations there processing around 60,000 tonnes. The company also owns facilities in Cameroon, Brazil and the Ivory Coast. Its quest to produce better quality chocolate will also impact on major confectionery company Hershey. Last month, the US manufacturer entered into a supply chain contract with Barry Callebaut whereby the latter will supply the former with at least 80,000 tonnes of chocolate and chocolate products each year. The two cocoa leaders also agreed to join forces in terms of research, development and market innovation.

The findings from the University of Brussel's Research Group of Industrial Microbiology and Food Biotechnology in collaboration with Barry Callebaut will be published over the coming months in the scientific journals: 'Applied and Environmental Microbiology', 'International Journal of Food Microbiology' and the 'International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology'.

Nutrition Notes: The Chocolate Conundrum

Monday, May 21, 2007 :: infoZine Staff

By Karen Collins, MS, RD, CDN - Chocolates claiming to be high in antioxidants are everywhere. How do we reconcile boosting chocolate's antioxidants, which supposedly help lower risk of heart disease and cancer, with possible weight gain, which may increase the risk of these diseases? The answer involves how we choose our source of chocolate and making sure it replaces other treats, not the vegetables, fruits and whole grains we need.

Washington, D.C. - American Institute for Cancer Research - infoZine -Laboratory studies demonstrate powerful antioxidant effects from a group of cocoa bean compounds called flavonoids. The flavonoid "family" also includes such health-protective compounds as the resveratrol in grape juice and EGCG in green tea. When people consume chocolate and cocoa, the amount of antioxidants in their blood increases. Studies also show that oxidation of LDL cholesterol, a process that converts cholesterol to a form more damaging to blood vessels, is slowed. Other studies suggest that chocolate's antioxidant action could protect our DNA from damage that can develop into cancer. Chocolate's flavonoids provide additional heart health benefits by improving function and flow through blood vessels.

Yet the flavonoid content of chocolate is highly variable. Dark chocolate, which can be bittersweet and semi-sweet, is usually 50 to 85 percent cocoa (which includes cocoa bean solids plus cocoa butter), is high in flavonoids and has an intense flavor. Dark chocolate is less sweet than other types of chocolate because as cocoa content goes up, sugar content drops. Milk chocolate can range from 7 to 50 percent cocoa. White chocolate contains no cocoa bean solids (and therefore is not a source of flavonoids), but does contain cocoa butter.

Research suggests health benefits from drinking cocoa, too. One study comparing total antioxidant activity from single servings of cocoa, green tea, black tea and red wine, reported cocoa markedly higher than the rest. However, most widely available cocoa mixes contain treated cocoa (called Dutch cocoa) that produces a richer taste but contains much fewer antioxidants. Gourmet cocoa mixes are available made with natural (untreated) cocoa. You can also make a flavonoid-rich cup of cocoa with natural cocoa from the grocery store plus your own sweetener and milk. The fat content of chocolate is not the problem that some people consider it to be. Seventy percent of chocolate's fat is either monounsaturated or a particular type of saturated fat called stearic acid that does not raise blood cholesterol. Whether dark or milk chocolate, studies show it is heart health-safe.

The calories in chocolate can pose a problem, however. Two to four small pieces of dark chocolate are shown in studies to increase antioxidant status for several hours, but they contain about 165 to 220 calories. (Chocolate candy containing cream or jelly fillings are much higher in calories.) We can get the same health-promoting antioxidants from a serving of fruits and vegetables for 25 to 80 calories, and in tea for no calories at all. Besides, fruits and vegetables are not just important for their flavonoids. They provide important vitamins, minerals like magnesium and potassium, and phytochemicals that protect our health in other ways, such as blocking carcinogen activation or interfering with the growth cycle of cancer cells and promoting their destruction.

Most adults can maintain a healthy weight and still consume 150 to 350 "discretionary calories" per day from foods that don't add much nutritionally. Savoring small portions of flavonoid-rich chocolate and cocoa could be great ways to "spend" those calories. instead of foods that are loaded with calories, sugar and unhealthful fats such as doughnuts, chocolate cakes or soft drinks.

Diet will help you lose weight, lift your spirits

By JEAN ENERSEN / KING 5 News

Monday, May 21, 2007

When Michael Catalano gets home from work, his kids are ready to wrestle. "We would play that game for you know, 3 or 4 minutes, and would just be winded and tired and my energy level would just crash," said Michael Catalano. Not anymore. He's found a way to boost his spirits and his energy… with food! "Now you know, we can be in there and my wife has to yell at us to come in for dinner because we're in there playing so long," he said. "I hear 'I feel better than I've ever felt in my life, and oh, by the way, I've lost 8 pounds, 10 pounds, 12 pounds; so that doesn't even become their primary goal. How they feel is the most important, but of course weight loss is also important," said Kleiner.

This diet is not about deprivation. "I want you to think about what you need to eat, not what you can't eat next," she said. Start with three servings of dairy each day. Add a handful of nuts to keep serotonin levels high. Banish that mid-day energy slump with berries and high-fiber veggies.

Does it work? Just ask Mike. "I feel so lousy when I fall off the wagon I can't wait to have that good feeling again, so I want to get back on the wagon," he said.

And yes, Dr. Kleiiner has an easy way to get you started. "One of my top favorite foods in the whole program is the hot chocolate cocoa at night, before you go to bed, every night," she said.

Following the recipe is key.

"Nonfat milk, natural cocoa powder, so non-dutched cocoa powder and a little sweetener… so make that and it's a warm cozy ritual, that all by itself makes you feel better," she said.

'Cocoa' toothpaste could replace fluoride

Mon, 21 May 2007

Author : Health News Editor

NEW ORLEANS, --- An extract of cocoa powder found in chocolate, tea and other products might be an effective alternative to fluoride in toothpaste, says a U.S. researcher. Tulane University doctoral candidate Arman Sadeghpour says the cocoa extract was even more effective than fluoride in fighting cavities.

The extract, a white crystalline powder whose chemical makeup is similar to caffeine, helps harden tooth enamel, making users less susceptible to tooth decay. The cocoa extract could offer the first major innovation to commercial toothpaste since manufacturers began adding fluoride to toothpaste in 1914, according to Sadeghpour. Although the extract has proven effective in an animal model, it could take another two to four years before the product is approved for human use and is available for sale, Sadeghpour says.

A Second Chance to Save Chocolate

OREM, UT -- (MARKET WIRE) –

SOURCE: Amano Artisan Chocolate

May 22, 2007 -- The following is the position of Amano Artisan Chocolate:

Due to an overwhelming outcry from the public, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended its public comment period for proposed changes to the ingredients in chocolate from April 25th to June 25th. If the change in the ingredients listing passes, the FDA will allow chocolate companies to begin substituting artificial fats and vegetable oils for the naturally existing natural cocoa butter found in chocolate, and they will still be able to label and call the final product "chocolate."

Why?

The 'why' is simple. The mega-chocolate companies want to reduce their costs with the cheaper vegetable oils and then be able to pass the final product off on the public as chocolate. The recipe for chocolate has virtually been the same for hundreds of years; changing it now is not for better taste or health benefits, it is to keep the manufacturing costs down.

Art Pollard, founder of Amano Artisan Chocolate, one of the few small artisanal U.S. chocolate manufacturers, continues the fight to keep chocolate natural. Pollard states, "When you take the cocoa butter out of chocolate it's like taking the cream out of ice cream and still calling it ice cream. Removing the cocoa butter and replacing it with artificial fats and vegetable oils creates a monstrosity; I call it FrankenChocolate. "As for the consumers, buyers beware," says Pollard. "FrankenChocolate will leave the consumer misled, confused and ultimately dissatisfied. It is very important that the public fight this. If they do not, the chocolate we grew up with will never be the same."

More detailed information and a link to where the public can leave comments for the FDA can be found either at the website Amano Artisan Chocolate has created to address this issue: or through Amano's website

"Gary Guittard of Guittard Chocolate has taken a very public stand against these proposed changes in chocolate," states Amano Artisan Chocolate founder Art Pollard. "To the best of our knowledge, Guittard is the only large U.S. chocolate company to oppose these changes in a public way." Guittard also has created a website with additional information --

If the public doesn't reach out to the FDA and make their voices heard they can be assured that grandma's chocolate chip cookies will be full of artificial hydrogenated fats instead of the chocolate she intended.

Cause and Effect

As the giants of the chocolate industry create artificially low pricing, they are harming the industry over the long term. The replacement of cocoa butter with cheaper ingredients will depress the cocoa prices, forcing cocoa growers to look for other livelihoods. In fact, a number of growers are now cutting down trees to plant more profitable and less labor-intensive crops such as pineapple and passion fruit.

Cocoa farmers have long subsisted on the edge of poverty with the large chocolate makers paying only the bare minimum -- just enough to ensure the next year's harvest -- a practice Amano Artisan Chocolate decries. With the higher cocoa prices the labor situation on the Ivory Coast has been improving and diminishing the trafficking of children. By depressing the cocoa prices it will reverse all the gains made in protecting these children. Reminder: The deadline for submitting public comments to the FDA is now June 25, 2007.

Contact: Art Pollard, Amano Artisan Chocolate, 496 South, 1325 West Orem, UT 84058 (P) 801-655-1996 (E) Email Contact Media Contact: Dara Bunjon (p) 410.486.0339 (e) Email Contact

Barry Callebaut presents findings on cocoa research

BARRY-

Wieze/Belgium,

22 May 2007 – Cocoa beans develop their flavor during the fermentation process. They undergo several biochemical changes, which determine their aroma and, ultimately, the taste of the resultant chocolate. Barry Callebaut, the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality cocoa, chocolate and confectionery products, teamed up with the University of Brussels (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) to analyze the formation of these aroma precursors during the cocoa bean fermentation. The researchers found that good fermentation is the result of the specific characteristics of lactic acid bacteria and acetic acid bacteria. The ability of these microorganisms to break down citric acid and sugars and to oxidize ethanol, respectively, resist acidic environments, and tolerate alcohol and heat defines the taste of the resultant chocolate. This new insight into the very first stage of the chocolate-making process will enable Barry Callebaut to further enhance the flavor of chocolate.

Herwig Bernaert, Innovation Manager Healthier Chocolate, explains: “This research is of great importance, because the spontaneous fermentation of cocoa, which takes place in the bush, lies at the basis of the entire chocolate-making process. It is the critical first step in determining the final flavor and taste components of chocolate at the end of the manufacturing process. Studying the microbiological and biochemical reactions that occur during the fermentation process of the cocoa bean helps to increase our knowledge. With these new findings we can further influence our entire chocolate-making process.”

The research, conducted by the Research Group of Industrial Microbiology and Food Biotechnology of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) on behalf of Barry Callebaut, involved the meticulous analysis of cocoa bean fermentation at the cocoa plantations. The fermentation process takes five to seven days. After the cocoa farmers remove the pulp from the pods, the beans are covered with banana leaves and left to ferment. The process removes the pulp from the beans, which then change color from beige to purple as they develop their aroma. Researchers made frequent visits to Ghana, living amongst local farmers to study this natural process. During their research they unraveled key metabolic pathways in Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus fermentum, and Acetobacter pasteurianus, and discovered new kinds of bacteria, such as the lactic acid bacterium, Weissella ghanensis, and the acetic acid bacterium, Acetobacter ghanensis, which all help develop the flavor associated with chocolate. “The secrets of the spontaneous cocoa bean fermentation process are gradually being unravelled thanks to the application of a combination of microbiological and chromatographic techniques on the one hand and modern molecular and mass spectrometric techniques on the other,” says Prof. Luc De Vuyst of the Industrial Microbiology and Food Biotechnology research group at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

The complete findings of the research will appear over the coming months in the renowned scientific journals, “Applied and Environmental Microbiology”, “International Journal of Food Microbiology”, and the “International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology”. Prof. Dr. ir. Luc De Vuyst is professor of industrial microbiology and head of the Research Group of Industrial Microbiology and Food Biotechnology at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium. The group’s research focuses on food fermentations (functional starter cultures) and gut health (probiotics and prebiotics).

With annual sales of more than CHF 4 billion for fiscal year 2005/06, Zurich-based Barry Callebaut is the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality cocoa, chocolate and confectionery products – from the cocoa bean to the finished product on the store shelf. Barry Callebaut is present in 24 countries, operates more than 30 production facilities and employs approximately 7,500 people. The company serves the entire food industry, from food manufacturers to professional users of chocolate (such as chocolatiers, pastry chefs or bakers), to global retailers. It also provides a comprehensive range of services in the fields of product development, processing, training and marketing.

Some dark chocolate a day keeps the doctor away

Tony Ryanto, Contributor,

Jakarta

23 May 2007

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, as the saying goes. Now, instead of an apple, we can have dark chocolate. Can this be true? Does dark chocolate really help maintain your health? If you should ask chocolate makers or chocolate lovers, they will definitely answer "yes". Nevertheless, dark chocolate does contain health benefits.

First of all, what is dark chocolate? It is chocolate made without milk, often called "plain chocolate". In America it is called "sweet chocolate", despite its rather bitter flavor. In order to be classified dark chocolate, it must have a 15 percent concentration of chocolate liquor, or unsweetened chocolate. European rules specify a minimum of 35 percent cocoa solids.

Wikipedia has another type of chocolate known as bittersweet chocolate, which is described as chocolate liquor to which some sugar (typically at a one-third ratio), additional cocoa butter, vanilla and sometimes lecithin has been added. It has less sugar and more liquor than semisweet chocolate, but the two are interchangeable in baking. Bittersweet and semisweet chocolates are sometimes referred to as couverture (chocolate that contains at least 32 percent cocoa butter).

What are the health benefits?

Dark chocolate is made of cocoa and cocoa is teeming with antioxidants that gobble up free radicals that trigger heart diseases and cancer. Cornell University food scientists say that cocoa has nearly twice the antioxidants of red wine and up to three times those found in green tea. Scientists have long known that cocoa contains antioxidants, but no one knew just how much when compared with those in red wine and green tea. The antioxidants in cocoa are derived from flavonoids, bioflavonoids or secondary metabolites from plants. A number of antioxidant chemicals are present in flavonoids, and the two found in cocoa are epicatechin and catechin. Apart from fighting free radicals, which cause cancer and cardiovascular ailments, antioxidants also lower blood pressure, improve blood circulation, improve digestion and stimulate the kidneys.

Jeffrey Blumberg Ph.D., director of the Antioxidants Research Laboratory at Tufts University, was quoted as saying in the journal Hypertension that people who ate 3.5 ounces (about 100 g) of dark chocolate per day for two weeks saw their blood pressure and their bad cholesterol (LDL) go down significantly. One other thing: 3.5 ounces of dark chocolate is equal to a big bar of chocolate, so participants had to cut about 400 calories from their daily dietary intake. But no, you don't have to worry; Blumberg said just a bite of dark chocolate a day might do you good.

In another instance, German researchers gave 24 women half a cup of special, extra flavonoid-enriched cocoa every day. After three months, the women's skin was more moist, smoother and less scaly and red when exposed to ultraviolet (UV) rays. The researchers thought the flavonoids, which absorb UV rays, helped protect and increase blood flow to the skin, improving its appearance. Chocolate may help boost your memory, attention span, reaction time and problem-solving skills by increasing blood flow to the brain, according to researchers at West Virginia's Wheeling Jesuit University.

In terms of sexual health, Italian researchers wanted to know whether chocolate is truly an aphrodisiac. In a survey of 143 women published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, those who ate chocolate every day seemed to have a greater sex drive and an easier time reaching climax. Eating a small, 1.6-ounce (45 grams) bar of dark chocolate every day is good for you, according to Mary Engler, PhD, RN, and colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco. Engler's team divided 21 healthy adults into two groups. One received a Dove Dark Chocolate bar with a high cocoa content every day for two weeks.

The dark chocolate provided was loaded with epicatechin, a component of flavonoids that keep cholesterol from gathering in blood vessels and so reduce the risk of narrowing blood vessels and developing blood clots. The second group didn't get Dove bars but they, too, got dark chocolate bars -- but with the flavonoids removed. Those of the full-flavonoid Dove bar chocolate group did significantly better, with blood tests showing that high levels of epicatechin were coursing through their arteries. Epicatechin seems to trigger the release of active substances that increase blood flow in the artery -- and better blood flow is good for your heart.

Dark chocolate contains more cocoa than other types of chocolate. Standard chocolate manufacturing destroys up to half of the flavonoids, but chocolate companies have now learned to make dark chocolate that retains up to 95 percent of its flavonoids. While a little dark chocolate is good, a lot is not better. Chocolate is still loaded with calories. If you're going to eat more chocolate, you'll have to cut back somewhere else. And remember that a well-balanced diet and plenty of exercise is still key to maintaining body weight and heart health. Part of the pleasure of eating chocolate is due to the fact that its melting point is slightly below human body temperature, so it melts in the mouth. Chocolate intake has also been linked with the release of serotonin in the brain, which is thought to produce feelings of pleasure.

Dr. Ekky M. Rahardja, M.S., clinical nutritionist at Royal Taruma Hospital, Jakarta, says serotonin can also improve sleeping patterns and enhance the effects of satiety. Apart from being an aphrodisiac, he says dark chocolate contains compounds that act as mild stimulants -- which might cause migraines in susceptible people. Research has shown that heroin addicts tend to have an increased liking for chocolate. This may be because it triggers dopamine release to the brain's reinforcement systems -- an effect, albeit a legal one, similar to that of opium. And contrary to popular belief, adds Ekky, dark chocolate does less harm to the teeth than other types of confectionery.

Cocoa possesses significant antioxidant action, protecting against LDL oxidation perhaps more than other polyphenol antioxidant-rich foods and beverages. A fad diet, called the "chocolate diet", has even emerged that emphasizes eating chocolate and cocoa powder in capsules. However, consuming milk chocolate or white chocolate, or drinking milk with dark chocolate, appears largely to negate the health benefits of dark chocolate. Chocolate is a calorie-rich food with a high fat content, but two-thirds of the fat in chocolate comes in the forms of a saturated fat called stearic acid, and a monounsaturated fat called oleic acid. And unlike other saturated fats, stearic acid does not raise levels of LDL cholesterol in the bloodstream.

This, according to Ekky, is because stearic acid can simply be converted into oleic acid, which is also good for heart health. Consuming relatively large amounts of dark chocolate and cocoa does not seem to raise serum LDL cholesterol levels; some studies even find that it could lower them. In conclusion, Ekky says that dark chocolate does have some nutritional values. But as noted earlier, everything in moderation -- consuming it in large quantities is not good for one's health, as its high fat and calorie content leads to weight gain. The bottom line? Surely we will not turn to dark chocolate exclusively to lower our blood pressure or to prevent heart disease and cancer. But dark chocolate, consumed in moderation, is good and recommendable in maintaining one's health.

Scientists look to cocoa husk fibre for low calorie foods

Source: Food Chemistry (Elsevier)

24/5/2007 - Cocoa husks, a waste product from the chocolate industry, could offer a valuable source of dietary fibre for the low-calorie food segment, Spanish researchers report.

Writing in the journal Food Chemistry, researchers from the City University, Madrid, and the University of Barcelona report that, in addition to being rich in both soluble and insoluble fibre, the husks also contain antioxidant compounds that open up possibilities for health and presevatives. "The antioxidant capacity of this cocoa fibre and its physico-chemical properties make it a suitable product to be used in the preparation of low-calorie, high-fibre foods like chocolate cookies, chocolate cakes, dietetic chocolate supplements, etc. where the colour and flavour of this cocoa fibre might be advantageous," wrote lead author lead author Elena Lecumberri.

In Europe and Japan, soluble fibre has the greater market share than insoluble. In the US, where the entire fibre market was worth $192.8m (€151.0m) in 2004, insoluble fibre dominates the market with $176.2m (€138.0m), and $16.6m (€13.0m) soluble. But while market analysts Frost and Sullivan predicts overall growth in the US to $470m (€369m) by 2011, the soluble fibre sector is expected to increase by almost twice the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) compared to insoluble fibre - 26.3 per cent compared to 13.1 per cent.

The researchers behind the new study looked at the production of dietary fibre from cocoa bean husks for use as ingredients in the production of low-calorie, high-fibre foods. "Dietary guidelines recommend a minimum daily intake of dietary fibre (DF) of 25 g (equivalent to 12.5 g DF per 1000 calories consumed), which is considerably higher than the estimated intakes in Western countries," explained Lecumberri. "DF components like pectins, gums, cellulose and others have been used as functional ingredients by the food industry, with an extensive market of food by-products as DF sources," "In the present work we report the composition, as well as the antioxidant and some physico-chemical properties of a fibre-rich product obtained from cocoa bean husks, which might be used as an ingredient in the preparation of different food products and/or dietetic, low-calorie high-fibre foods," she added.

Lecumberri and co-workers found that the extract contained mostly insoluble dietary fibre, which accounted for 80 per cent of the total dietary fibre and half of the total dry weight. Ten per cent of the total dietary fibre was made up of soluble fibre. "The presence of associated polyphenolic compounds (1.32 and 4.46 per cent of soluble polyphenols and condensed tannins, respectively) provides this fibre material with intrinsic antioxidant capacity," said the researchers. "Hydration properties (swelling and water holding capacity) and the glucose retardation index of cocoa fibre were similar to other natural commercial insoluble fibres," they added.

Further research is needed to evaluate the economical and formulation aspects of using the cocoa husk extract ingredient. "Although rich in IDF, this cocoa product contains nearly 10 per cent of pectic substances, which is higher than the amount of soluble fibre usually supplied by other IDF-rich products like cereal brans commonly used as DF sources," concluded Lecumberri.

Volume 104, Issue 3, Pages 948-954, doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2006.12.054 "Dietary fibre composition, antioxidant capacity and physico-chemical properties of a fibre-rich product from cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.)" Authors: E. Lecumberri, R. Mateos, M. Izquierdo-Pulido, P. Ruperez, L. Goya and L. Bravo

Flavonoids and heart disease



May 25, 2007

A Finnish study has looked at the heart health benefits associated with 26 antioxidant nutrients from the Flavonoid group (part of the Polyphenol family of antioxidants). Flavonoids are found in certain fruits and vegetables, in tea, coffee, red wine and cocoa. Sub-classes of flavonoids include flavonols, flavones, flavanones, flavan-3-ols and anthocyanidins.

Antioxidants are one of the body’s defence against ‘free radicals’, which are small molecules generated during normal metabolic processes. Excessive free radical production causes damage to cells and their components, including cell genetic material, and is thought to have a key role in the ageing process and in many degenerative and age-related diseases. Antioxidants act by ‘mopping up’ free radicals in cells, thereby limiting the damage they can cause. Antioxidant nutrients, such as those found in fruits and vegetables, are known to lower the risk of heart disease. However, it is not clear how different types of antioxidants perform.

Using carotid artery diameter as an indication for heart health, researchers tried to find out if flavonoid consumption was an important dietary factor in the development of heart disease. Medical examinations and dietary assessments were carried out on 1400 middle-aged Finnish men as part of the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study.

The average intake of flavonoids was 128 mg per day. After adjusting for other factors that could influence heart health (e.g. fat body levels, smoking, alcohol, dietary fat and vitamin intake), men with the lowest intakes of flavonoids tended to have the worst carotid artery diameter and, thus, the greatest risk of heart disease. Out of the different flavonoid subclasses, flavan-3-ols performed the best. These tend to be found in apples, red wine and cocoa. The researchers concluded that a high intake of flavonoids could be protective against heart disease.

For more information see: Mursu J et al (2007) The intake of flavonoids and carotid atherosclerosis: the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study. British Journal of Nutrition, Apr 30, 1-5 [Epub ahead of print].

Production & Quality

World Cocoa Foundation Partners with USAID to Improve Education in West African Cocoa Communities

World Cocoa Foundation

23 May 2007

(CSRwire) Vienna, VA – The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) today announced a significant, multi-year partnership to provide greater opportunities and a brighter future for young people living on cocoa farms in Ghana and the Ivory Coast. The new partnership, known as the ECHOES (Empowering Cocoa Households with Opportunities and Education Solutions) Alliance, brings together the WCF and its member companies with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Africa Education Initiative. Through teacher training, and curriculum development, agricultural and life skills training, the ECHOES Alliance will improve access to quality, relevant education for thousands of children living in cocoa farming communities in West Africa.

"Education is a critical issue in cocoa farming communities, affecting everything from farmer labor practices to urban migration and the future of cocoa farming," said Bill Guyton, president, World Cocoa Foundation. "The ECHOES Alliance will provide children on cocoa farms with educational content, better teaching and ultimately, a better future." Independent surveys identified education as a major challenge facing cocoa farming communities in West Africa. While recent government efforts have improved enrolment rates, three major problems confront cocoa farming communities:

The relevancy of education to cocoa farming families

The lack of adequately trained teachers for primary and secondary schools

The low level of functional literacy among out-of-school youth and adults

The ECHOES Alliance will build upon and expand programs sponsored by the WCF, Mars, Incorporated, The Hershey Company, Cloetta Fazer, Kraft Foods, ED&F Man, OLAM International and the Norwegian Association of Chocolate Manufacturers.

These programs, led by Winrock International and the International Foundation for Education and Self-Help (IFESH), are making a real difference in the quality of education available to young people on cocoa farms. "In Ghana, we have made education a top priority, as part of a broader commitment to offering a better future for our children," said Ambassador Kwame Bawuah-Edusei from the Republic of Ghana. "Moreover, the well-being of cocoa farming communities is a critical issue for our nation, one where education plays a great role. The ECHOES Alliance will help us make greater progress, more quickly." A multi-year effort, programs supported by the ECHOES Alliance will increase school attendance, raise the number of trained teachers, increase livelihood opportunities for young people, and improve literacy levels throughout West African cocoa farming communities.

In addition, the initiative will use education to address important health issues like HIV/AIDS and malaria. To achieve these results, programs supported by the ECHOES Alliance will:

Establish teacher resource centers to improve teaching and learning materials

Increase community participation in decision making

Address HIV/AIDS through testing and counseling

Provide agricultural curriculum and training for in and out of school youth

Raise awareness of malaria and help communities implement prevention strategies

Develop teaching and learning materials to provide young people with a better livelihood

"Cocoa farming families are the backbone of our economy and our nation, yet they face many challenges," said Ambassador Diabate, with the government of the Ivory Coast. "We welcome the partnership with the World Cocoa Foundation and USAID, because it will bring new ideas, energy and resources to our farmers to better face these challenges." In the Ivory Coast, the Alliance will work with communities of Aboisso, Adzope, Alepe, Daloa and Gagnoa. In Ghana, the Alliance will be active in Akrokeri, Bechem, Kumasi and Sefwi Wiawso.

Established in 2000, the World Cocoa Foundation plays a leading role in strengthening the partnership between industry and cocoa farmers. With nearly 60 member companies, the WCF supports a range of economic, social and environmental programs in cocoa communities in Africa, Asia, Central America and South America. World Cocoa Foundation programs focus on raising farm incomes, encouraging responsible, sustainable cocoa growing and strengthening communities.

For more information about the World Cocoa Foundation, or to find out how you can help support cocoa farmers, contact Bill Guyton or Robert Peck at (703) 790-5012 or via e-mail at Bill.Guyton@. or Robert.Peck@. Also, visit the WCF online at: . For more information please contact: Susan Smith 703) 790-5012

Cameroon: Jonas Mva Mva, "We Have Reduced Use of Chemicals by 40 % "

Cameroon Tribune (Yaoundé)

Lukong Pius Nyuylime

24 May 2007

Jonas Mva Mva, project manager of Tree Crops Production, Marketing and Livelihoods program.

How far have you gone with the implementation of the Tree Crops production, marketing and livelihoods program in Camerioon?

This program, it should be noted, is made up of four components; three of which are already being implemented. The first component is the setting up of farmer organisations. In the Centre Province, we have already built eight cooperatives and in the South West province, four, giving a total of 12 cooperatives with a minimum of 6,000 members. The second component has to do with production. Here, we have two main activities: extension of the farmer-fiscal approach where the farmer is at the centre and is an extension worker in his own area of activity. Through this approach, we have been able to reduce the use of chemicals by training farmers in integrated crops and pest management to ensure that they are able to reduce the cost of chemicals used in maintaining their cocoa farms and increase their yields. Within this sub component, we are able to reduce the use of chemicals by about 40 % and increase the yields by about 5 to 10 % in farms. The second major activity in this component is the supply of farmers with good quality planting materials. So far we have trained about 200 farmers within the cooperatives we are working with in opening cocoa, oil palm and banana nurseries. We have equally trained about 50 farmers on fruit trees seedlings. The third component is income generating activities. This include increasing cocoa producer income by improving the marketing tools, setting up quality control centres between cooperatives and engaging more women and youths into the cooperative activities.

The last component which we have just started has to do with micro credit. This would enable them to understand why they need credit and the credit institutions to know who their counterparts are. So far, this is what we have achieved in one year.

Why did you choose cocoa, oil palm and banana/plantains knowing that there are several other crops farmers can rely on for income?

We had to go through a baseline survey on what is bringing more income in the rural areas. From our survey, we discovered that in the Centre and South West Provinces, cocoa provides about 70% of revenue to about 50% of rural farmers. This is followed by oil palm, banana/plantains and food crops. We did not see the necessity to get to food crops like cassava, ground nuts, etc because there are already many projects on them. When the farmer is no longer very active, it is more important for him to continue to get money from cash crops. Through the Tree Crops Production, marketing and livelihoods program, we like to demonstrate that farmers can effectively prepare their retirement on cash crops.

What criteria did you use to choose the Centre and South West Provinces?

Being located in the Centre Province, we thought that it would be easy to create the innovations we have discussed above by being closer to the farmers. Statistically speaking, we saw that the South West Province is first in cocoa production in Cameroon followed by the Centre. Against this backdrop, we intend to extend to the South which occupies third position.

What contribution is your program going to make to ensure increase production especially in cocoa?

The important element of this program is diversification. With the new variety of cocoa introduced by research centres such as IRAD, we no longer need to have a density of 1,200 trees per hectare as in the past. The present variety enables farmers to produce more even with 800 trees per hectare. We are telling farmers that rather than staying in monoculture, they can increase production by regenerating the farms and revenue by introducing new crops in the same farms. This can help farmers to support their needs in case of drop in prices of cocoa. They wouldn't need to cut down cocoa trees like we saw in 1982 when prices dropped drastically.

How will this program pull the youths into cocoa, oil palm and banana/plantation production?

During the baseline survey we did, youth said they would like to move away from the old system of farming. They said they would like to become more professional. In this project we have introduced a component that handles problems related to entrepreneurship. We think that by setting enterprises in rural communities where people will be able to become real entrepreneurs in their own farms, and as members of cooperatives this will attract the youths. Take the example of UCCAO in the West Province. When this organisation was well managed, youths did not want to go to town because they had their revenues from there. With the system we are introducing, youth will become managers themselves.

Rains Bring Hope for West Africa's Main Cocoa Crop

Source: Reuters

24/05/2007

Abidjan, May 24 - Rains have come too late to save West Africa's mid-season cocoa crop and that should help keep prices near 4-year highs for now, but downpours bode well for a strong, early start to the main 2007/08 harvest. The current trickle of cocoa beans, almost two months into the mid-crop, is a symptom of the drought that gripped the world's main growing region between January and March.

In top producer Ivory Coast, farmers and exporters expect output from plantations to rise in coming weeks, but to fall well short of the typical 300,000 tonne April to September mid-crop. A few even talk of as little as 200,000 tonnes. "Our salvation will come from the next season which we hope will start earlier," said the director of a European exporter. "We can expect a good main crop next season because there are all the signs the plants have rested. I'm sure we'll have a good season next October. We've rarely had two bad seasons back to back," he said in Abidjan. It is still early to make main crop predictions, however, and all depends very much on the weather in weeks to come.

Ivory Coast's total annual production is usually about 1.3 million tonnes. Looking to the 2007/08 October to March main crop, many farmers say they are unable to afford fertilisers and pesticides, but no other adverse indicators appear for now. "With average rainfall ahead, I don't see why you couldn't get a crop of between 1.3 to 1.45 million tonnes," said one cocoa analyst in London.

PRICES HIGH

He questioned the lowest estimates for this year's mid-crop and said there was always a tendency for cocoa to come out of the woodwork. "Prices have improved quite a lot, so that should bring it out," he said.

The very poor quality of mid-crop beans could also improve towards the end of the harvest. Mid-crop beans are usually smaller and less useful to grinders, but this year's lack of soil moisture at the right time has been particularly damaging.

The mid-crop problems have helped push prices close to levels reached during Ivory Coast's 2002-03 civil war. Prices for the benchmark second position in London cocoa futures are up nearly 30 percent from late December lows. "The rains that have fallen since April, although beneficial, have not been sufficient," said Rodolphe Roche, a commodity fund manager at Schroders in London. "These will only benefit the main crop ... We think that due to a roughly 10 percent fall in the size of the mid-crop in the Ivory Coast, there is still upside potential for cocoa prices."

London September cocoa traded down 3 pounds at 1,082 pounds a tonne on Thursday. The contract set a near-four-year high for the second position of 1,094 pounds on Monday. Demand growth and increasing fund interest in cocoa have also helped support prices alongside the doubts over supply. The mid-crop picture from Ivory Coast is similar across most of West Africa's tropical cocoa growing belt.

In second producer Ghana, mid-crop cocoa pods withered on the tree as a harsher than usual harmattan wind blew from the Sahara. The overall harvest is not expected to top 700,000 tonnes, but rains have now brought hopes for the main crop. Some buyers said subsidised fertiliser sales, organised by state regulator Cocobod, would also boost the main crop.

In Nigeria, dryness has slashed the mid-crop. While rains now look good for the main crop, Nigeria's plantations also bear the burden of decades of neglect.

Only in Cameroon are farmers looking forward to a better mid-crop, saying weather was improving and higher prices in recent years had generally helped production. "This has encouraged many farmers to regenerate farms," said Joseph Nde of Cameroon Marketing Commodities in South West province.

BAD WEATHER

Other big suppliers Indonesia and Brazil will do little to help make up a 2006/07 global supply deficit estimated at between 103,000 tonnes by the International Cocoa Organization and 238,000 tonnes by investment bank Fortis.

Indonesian supply is tight after a combination of dry and wet weather delayed harvests that normally start in April in Sulawesi. Southeast Asian grinders complain of difficulties getting new beans from the world's third biggest grower.

Brazil's 2006/07 (May to April) crop is though to have been down from the year before due to unfavourable weather. Looking to the new crop, Salvador-based cocoa analyst Thomas Hartmann said good flowering and pod setting in Bahia, the main cocoa state, improved prospects for the early main crop, but all will depend on potential damage from witches' broom disease.

Meanwhile, global cocoa demand continues to grow. It is driven in part by an increasing appetite for better quality dark chocolate which has more cocoa in it. Price rises are not expected to hit consumption, lifted to some degree by perceived health benefits of chocolate. Growing wealth in emerging countries such as China is also seen as a potential spur to demand. Some believe a better supply picture for the next season, though, will take production back above grindings. Fortis sees a cocoa surplus of 64,000 tonnes for 2007/08.

Others

Celebrating 100 years of the park that chocolate built

By GENE SLOAN, USA Today

Hersheypark is ready for its anniversary with The Boardwalk, the amusement park's largest expansion The smokestacks of the Hershey chocolate factory loom over Hersheypark.

HERSHEY, Pa. -- Tom Brandon of Philadelphia laughs as he recalls the half-dozen summer pilgrimages he and his family have made to this cocoa-crazed town, home to the world's largest chocolate factory. "Sometimes you just need a chocolate fix," quips the 42-year-old accountant.

Pausing between rides at Hersheypark, the chocolate-infused amusement park in the center of town, Brandon says it's hard to resist a place where the main streets are named "Chocolate" and "Cocoa" and even the street lamps are shaped like Hershey's Kisses. "It never gets old," he says, talking over the rumble of the Comet, the park's famed wooden roller coaster that dates to 1946. Besides, he says, "where else are you able to smell chocolate as you fly through the air on a roller coaster?" Where else, indeed?

There's nothing quite like a visit to Hershey, a place so dominated by chocolate that even the soap in some hotels is made with cocoa beans. The model factory town built a century ago by chocolate magnate Milton Hershey offers everything from thrill rides to a history lesson in American ingenuity, all in a bucolic setting that draws more vacationers every decade.

This year the town of 21,000 is bracing for what could be a record 6 million-plus visitors as it celebrates the 100th anniversary of both Hersheypark and one of its signature products, the Hershey's Kiss. Among new attractions: The Boardwalk, a $21 million expansion that is the largest in Hersheypark's history. "We wanted to do something spectacular for the anniversary," John Tshudy, the park's head of operations, says of the water-play area scheduled to open on Saturday.

Tshudy, who grew up just outside town and has worked at the park for 35 years, shows off The Boardwalk's five new attractions, which include a towering complex of water slides and a wave pool for surfing. It is the latest big-budget addition at Hersheypark, which draws more than 2.5 million visitors during its nine-month season. "It's amazing how much has changed," says Tshudy, noting that Milton Hershey founded the park as a picnic and pleasure grounds for the town in 1907. "In Hershey's day, it was about a tenth the size it is now."

More changes are coming. Hershey Entertainment & Resorts, which runs the park and many of the town's hotels and restaurants, is in the midst of a big revitalization of Chocolate Avenue. The historic Milton Hershey Theatre is among several buildings that already have been restored, and the nonprofit M.S. Hershey Foundation broke ground last week on a major museum called The Hershey Story, which should be finished by late next year. The new chief executive of Hershey Entertainment & Resorts, Ted Kleisner, says retail shops also are on the way. He even mentions the possibility of a new Hershey-run hotel. The idea is "to pull people back into the town," says Kleisner, noting that Hershey's main street struggled even as area tourism boomed. "It'll be the biggest undertaking since Mr. Hershey began building the hotel in the Depression," Kleisner says.

The hotel already boasts a "chocolate" spa, which opened in 2001 and is famed for a line of chocolate wraps and other cocoa-based treatments. But Kleisner, who arrived in January after years at the Greenbrier resort in West Virginia, also plans Greenbrier-like guest houses with four bedrooms or more, as well as redevelopment of the Hotel Hershey's muddled entrance.

The chocolate factory still dominates the town, churning out millions of chocolate bars a week. Today's visitors, however, no longer get to see the factory's massive chocolate vats up close. By 1973, with nearly 1 million visitors a year, the factory tours had gotten out of hand. In their place, the chocolate company built Hershey's Chocolate World -- billed as the world's most visited corporate visitors center.

Next door to Hersheypark, Chocolate World is home to a free, Disney-like ride through a faux Hershey factory (everybody gets a free piece of chocolate at the end); a $5.95-a-person 3-D show, a Kit Kat-themed cafe and a huge store selling all manner of chocolate and chocolate-themed products. Chocolate World also is where visitors board the Hershey Trolley Works tour, a 75-minute, $12.95-a-person voyage back in time that takes in everything from Hershey's boyhood home to the mansion he built across from his factory.

La Nina may rear its head, keep farmers on toes

May 24, 2007

Lewa Pardomuan

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - La Nina, a weather phenomenon characterized by incessant rainfall, storms and flooding in most parts of Asia, may be emerging again this year, and farmers may have to brace themselves for a "wet" dry season.

La Nina, or "little girl" in Spanish, is a cooling of ocean surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean. Rains induced by this weather anomaly may lash oil palm, rubber, coffee and cocoa plantations as well as inundate rice fields and open pit mining areas. "The Pacific Basin remains primed for La Nina," the Australian Bureau of Meteorology said on its Web site (.au).

Farmers have reported unseasonal rains in rubber, cocoa and coffee plantations in Southeast Asia, which have curbed supply and helped support global prices as well as encouraged main rubber consumer China to stock up. "It's already May but still there's so much rain. I think the world is getting strange," said a rubber dealer in Jakarta. "It's getting tougher to find raw material," said the dealer, referring to difficulties in extracting latex from rubber trees because of erratic weather.

Parts of Indonesia normally enter the dry season in April and May but rain is still falling in rubber, coffee and cocoa plantations. In Thailand, the world's main rubber producer, unseasonal rains disrupted supply and helped spur gains in Tokyo futures. But in the sub-continent, India awaits the start of the monsoon season, when gold demand in the world's main consumer normally drops as farmers invest their money in fertilizers to grow crops. Farmers account for 65 percent of India's demand.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology said cooler-than-normal conditions in the Pacific Ocean subsurface, which have persisted since mid-January and led to cooler-than-average surface waters in the far-eastern Pacific, suggested that La Nina was developing. "These conditions, combined with the fact that all major international coupled models show further cooling of the equatorial Pacific Ocean over the coming months, suggest there is an elevated chance of a La Nina event occurring during 2007."

In late 2005 through early 2006, the Philippines, the world's largest coconut oil shipper, was hit by La Nina and experienced above-average rainfall. Mudslides triggered by heavy rains entombed a community of 1,800 in Guinsaugon on Southern Leyte province, about 675 kilometers (420 miles) southeast of Manila, in February 2006. La Nina also made its presence felt last year in Thailand, the world's largest rice producer, bringing an early start to the monsoon. But rains brought relief to Australia, which has been gripped by its worst drought in living memory since 2002, and were welcomed by farmers in Vietnam, the world's largest robusta coffee producer and the second-largest exporter of rice.

Australian farmers were finally rewarded when the best rain in 10 years fell throughout eastern and southern grains growing areas towards the end of April -- at exactly the right time for planting of winter grains crops.

Indonesia, the world's second-largest palm oil producer and a main grower of cocoa, coffee, rubber and pepper, still expects rains in coming weeks but the meteorology department rules out the arrival of La Nina. "There will be sporadic rains everywhere in Indonesia. It's going to be wet but it's not La Nina," said Suwardi, an official at the national bureau of meteorology and geophysics. La Nina is less famous and less destructive than El Nino, which has the opposite effect of warming the waters of the Pacific.

El Nino usually causes severe droughts and forest fires in Australia, Central America, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The worst El Nino on record in 1997/98 killed over 2,000 people and caused property damage worth an estimated $33 billion.

(With reporting by Michael Byrnes in Sydney, Mita Valine Liem in Jakarta, Ho Binh Minh in Hanoi, Apornrath Phoonphongphipat in Bangkok and Alfred Cang in Shanghai)

World Cocoa Production and Estimates - ICO

Source: Reuters

24/05/2007

May 24 - Below is a table of total annual cocoa production and forecasts by country: (All figures in thousand tonnes)

Estimates

2005/06 2006/07

MAIN PRODUCERS

Ivory Coast 1,400 1,110 to 1,180

Ghana 740 Below 700

Indonesia 580 620

Nigeria 180 to 200 150 to 160

Cameroon 165 --

Brazil 170 150

GLOBAL 3,680* 3,290 to 3,470*

GRINDINGS 3,460* 3,530 to 3,540*

SURPLUS/ 176* -103* to -238

DEFICIT

COCOBOD launches 60th anniversary celebration

Ayuure Kapini Atafori ,

25/05/2007

The Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Cocoa Board, Isaac Osei, has stated that as the board celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, the main challenge it faces is to effectively implement appropriate policies which will improve the cocoa industry, leading to the attainment of its one million tonnes production target. "This target will surely be attained through productivity-enhancing schemes, modernisation and expansion of logistics, and improvement in quality assurance systems," Mr Osei told a gathering of Ministers of State, Members of Parliament, media, COCOBOD staff and other invited guests at the launch of the board's 60th anniversary celebration in Accra yesterday.

He was proud that through the efforts of the management, staff and stakeholders, and the support of the Government, COCOBOD has become one of the most respected and foremost commodity institutions in Africa. "This has translated into our ability to lift the trade finance facility for cocoa purchases to another height with annual amount involved increasing from $260 million in 2000/01 through $650 million in 2003/04 to $810 million in the current 2006/07 crop year," he informed the audience. The CEO said the board"s attempt to secure a $150m medium-term facility for the modernisation and expansion of its quality assurance and warehousing facilities was over-subscribed by more than 33 percent, indicating the positive image of COCOBOD in international financial circles.

He said in line with the Government’s policy to promote domestic processing of up to 50 percent of national output cocoa COCOBOD would continue to support and promote the private sector to play an active role in that regard. In this respect, he noted, beans supply agreements that are being signed with new companies are critically examined with a view to evolving a policy that will protect the interest of COCOBOD and investors. "Both existing and prospective cocoa processing companies will continue to be encouraged to add more value to our beans beyond cocoa nips and liquor to finished products."

A Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, George Gyan-Baffour, COCOBOD has been a dependable partner in Ghana’s development since its inception in 1947, contributing significantly to social and economic infrastructural development. "I recall production level reaching over 736,000 tonnes in 2003/04 and the 2005/06 crop year’s record of over 740,000 tonnes. Correspondingly, over $1 billion mark was attained in 2003/04 in terms of foreign exchange." Prof Gyan-Baffour assured COCOBOD of the Government’s continuous support to the cocoa sector to enable the sector consolidate the gains made so far.

TIT BITS

(Source: Business Recorder – brecord)

New York cocoa climbs sharply

NEW YORK (May 20, 2007): US cocoa futures settled sharply higher on Friday on speculative buying encouraged by firm dealings in London, but remained below the level reached in April that was close to a four-year peak, traders said.

Rains patchy in Ivory Coast cocoa regions

ABIDJAN (May 22, 2007): Rainfall was patchy in Ivory Coast's cocoa growing areas last week but weather conditions remained good for pod production in the world's top producer of the bean, farmers said on Monday.

Ivorian cocoa arrivals seen down

ABIDJAN (May 22, 2007): cocoa arrivals at ports in Ivory Coast from October 1 to May 20 reached around 1,034,000 tonnes, compared with 1,130,114 tonnes in the same period last year, exporters estimated on Monday.

New York cocoa closes with modest gains

NEW YORK (May 23, 2007): US cocoa futures settled up a shade on Monday, in rangebound dealings following steep gains made on Friday, and continued to hold levels below near-four-highs reached in mid-April, traders said.

New York cocoa futures slip

NEW YORK (May 24, 2007): US cocoa futures slipped in late trading to close down 1.3 percent on Tuesday, weighed by origin selling after arbitrage buying due to the firm sterling helped support the market in trade, dealers said.

Ivory Coast cocoa farmgate prices mixed

ABIDJAN (May 24, 2007): Farmgate prices in Ivory Coast's cocoa areas were mixed from May 14-20, Coffee and cocoa Bourse (BCC) data showed on Wednesday, but rates remained higher than usual with beans in short supply so far this mid crop.

New York cocoa surges on firm pound

NEW YORK (May 25, 2007): US cocoa futures jumped to close up 2.6 percent on Wednesday, off a fresh five-week high on support from firm sterling and speculative and fund-type buying that triggered stops, traders said. "Origin selling was not there today to put a cap on the first leg of the rally and then speculators came in and bought both London and New York," one broker said.

New York cocoa slumps

NEW YORK (May 26, 2007): US cocoa futures ended down 1.5 percent on Thursday, on fund and speculative profit taking following follow-through buying support from Wednesday's gains that initially buoyed prices closer to the latest four-year peak, traders said.

Ivorian cocoa arrivals rise

ABIDJAN (May 26, 2007): cocoa arrivals at Ivory Coast's San Pedro port reached 416,675 tonnes by May 20, according to data from the Coffee and cocoa Bourse (BCC) obtained by Reuters on Thursday, compared with 428,429 tonnes a year ago.

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