Global Cocoa Beans Market

Cocoa bean is a cash crop that is used as a feedstock for the production of cocoa liquor, cocoa butter and cocoa powder, and consequently is primarily used as a raw material for chocolate making wherein cocoa liquor and cocoa butter are its primary ingredients. The vast majority of cocoa beans come from small, family-run farms that often depend on old-fashioned farming practices with limited organizational leverage and they typically travel along a global supply chain, wherein cocoa beans go through a complex production process that comprises farmers, buyers/local agents, shipping organizations, processors, manufacturers, chocolatiers, and distributors.

Market Dynamics

Some of the important factors driving demand for Cocoa beans is increasing consumption outside traditional western markets, hence guaranteeing demand for Cocoa, Cocoa ingredients becoming less reliant on confectionery bearing in mind that chocolate and in turn cocoa ingredients are becoming widely used in a range of categories, and the trend for premium and indulgent products including ice cream, frozen desserts, sweet biscuits etc. resulting in increased demand for Cocoa ingredients since chocolate can play an important role in helping manufacturers achieving the premium positioning. An important aspect of health and wellness trend that is positively affecting the demand for cocoa ingredients is the growing market for flavoured milk drinks and non-diary milk alternatives, which are becoming popular alternatives to other soft-drinks as they are perceived to be healthy than carbonates and high sugar soft drinks and given that chocolate is a popular flavour in these drinks, their growth is helping to increase global volumes of cocoa powder used in these drinks.

One of the important market drivers for cocoa beans is a trend that does not appear to be weakening across the Western-world i.e. the move towards more premium products which is not just restricted to chocolate confectionery, but across other categories in which cocoa ingredients are used, including sweet biscuits, cakes and ice cream. This has opened up new avenues for cocoa ingredients industry where suppliers are looking to source ingredients from different regions of the world and even different plantations within a region to offer a unique product to their consumer given that provenance is part of the key to success of premium products with the discerning consumer wanting to know the source of the product they are eating (resulted in the rise of origin-specific products). And for consumers who want a so-called ‘healthy indulgent' chocolate product, many are turning to dark chocolate even though the health benefits of consuming regular dark chocolate have been dismissed, the idea is still there, with sales of dark chocolates continuing to rise in many countries and it's this trend toward dark chocolate with result in increasing demand for cocoa ingredients.

With only two countries (Ivory coast and Ghana) accounting for a disproportionately high(~60%) portion of the world's cocoa owing to the specific climate required by the cacao tree, the market is easily affected by supply shortages if production is affected by weather, economics or politics given that these countries are known to be politically unstable, have also suffered from adverse weather conditions as a result of the El Nino weather event. As people move to healthier diets and other snacks, this has implications on the demand for cocoa as some 45% of cocoa ingredients are used in confectionery.In addition to the above, it's not just the production of cocoa beans which is concentrated, but the industry is also becoming more concentrated with a number of high-profile acquisitions of major cocoa ingredients suppliers occurring over the past few years.

Market Segmentation:

The market for Cocoa Beans can be segmented on the basis of bean type into:

--> Criollo Cocoa beans

--> Forastero Cocoa beans

--> Trinitario Cocoa beans

The Cocoa bean market can also be segmented on the basis of product type into

--> Cocoa Liquor

--> Cocoa Butter

--> Cocoa Powder

--> Others

The market can also be segmented on the basis of end-user into

--> Chocolate & Confectionery Industry

--> Food and Beverages Industry

--> Cosmetics Industry

It can also be segmented on the basis of region into

--> North America and Europe

--> South America

--> Middle-East and Africa

--> Asia Pacific

Regional/Geographic Analysis

North America and Europe:

In Western markets, chocolate confectionery has been suffering from the health and wellness trend as consumers reduce chocolate consumption to reduce sugar and fat intake and move towards healthier snacks, with cocoa becoming the collateral damage due to the war on sugar. However, consumers reducing chocolate consumption are still choosing other sweet snacks such as sweet biscuits, cakes, pastries, and ice cream, and often chocolate is incorporated into those products and these applications are therefore are of growing importance to cocoa ingredients. Another trend characterising western markets is the trading up of consumers to premium and indulgent products, which may result in a reduction in volumes of cocoa ingredients, but value-added ingredients, such as origin-specific cocoa, are becoming valued. Condensing the above, even though growth is weak, opportunities lie outside chocolate confectionery.

Asia Pacific:

Asia-Pacific continues to be the strongest market for Cocoa ingredients, with a forecast CAGR of 4.5% over 2010-2015 compared with 1.7% for the world as a whole, due to the regions rapidly growing population, burgeoning middle-class, increasing disposable incomes resulting from rising per-capita income, making it the second largest market by volume.

Africa and Latin America:

Africa and Latin America dominate the supply of world's Cocoa beans supply with both of them together accounting for approximately 83% of the world's cocoa beans supply. As global demand for Cocoa is expected to surge on account of rising consumption in China, India and elsewhere around the world, the cocoa sector will need extra cocoa equivalent to another Ivory Coast(world's top producer) and it is speculated that Latin America will be best placed to meet this future demand for the reason that African cocoa yields expanded less than 7% from 2000-2012 despite 25% increase in cultivated area in contrast to 73% increase in production over a 3% increase in harvested area for Latin America over the same period and political unrest in West-Africa leading to poor government support contrary to supportive policies adopted by the Latin American countries.

Key Players

Some of the key players in the Cocoa Beans market are

Cargill Incorporated, Barry Callebaut, Artisan Confections company, Meridian Cacao Company, Agrofloresta, Costa Esmeraldas Cacao Co, Cocoa Supply Company, Cacao Bahia, Tomric Systems, Inc., The Mexican Arabica Bean Company, Olam Group, PASCHA Company

Report Contents:

> Market segments

> Market Drivers, Restraints and Opportunities

> Market Size & Forecast 2016 to 2022

> Supply & Demand Value Chain

> Market - Current Trends

> Competition & Major Companies

> Technology and R&D Status

> Porters Five Force Analysis

> Strategic and Critical Success Factor Analysis of Key Players

Regional Analysis:

> North America

>> US and Canada

> Latin America

>> Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Rest of Latin America

> Western Europe

>> EU5 (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, U.K.)

>> Nordic Countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden)

>> Benelux (Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg)

>> Rest of Western Europe

> Eastern Europe

>> Russia

>> Poland

>> Rest of Eastern Europe

> Asia Pacific

>> China

>> India

>> Japan

>> Australia and New Zealand

>> Rest of Asia Pacific

> Middle East and Africa

>> GCC countries (Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE and Kuwait)

>> South Africa

>> North Africa

>> Rest of Middle East and Africa

This report is an elaborate aggregation of primary inputs from industry experts and participants across the supply chain. It provides details on market segmentation which is derived from several product mapping exercises, macroeconomic parameters and other qualitative and quantitative insights. The impact of all such factors is delivered across multiple market segments and geographies.

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> Detailed Historical Overview (Market Origins, Product Launch Timeline, etc.)

> Consumer and Pricing Analysis

> Market dynamics of the industry

> Market Segmentation

> Estimated Market Sizing in terms of volume and value

> Recent trends in Market and impact

> Research Status and Technology Overview

> Extensive Industry Structure Coverage

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