How cocoa fever is taking hold in Latin America
Its resistance to tropical heat and disease makes cocoa an ideal seed for areas affected by climate change. Coffee, avocado, and banana producers are rapidly turning to this new "black gold" from the Amazon, taking advantage of the difficulties facing African producing countries, which have caused prices to soar.
“Before, anyone who wanted to grow cocoa at an altitude of 1,200 or 1,500 meters was considered crazy,” but today, with climate change, it’s entirely possible, Colombian agronomist Orlando Quintero Gonzales told environmental media outlet Mongabay . While other crops, such as coffee, are poorly able to withstand temperature changes, more and more Latin American producers are tempted to turn to cocoa to establish themselves on the global market for this new “black gold,” taking advantage of the difficulties experienced by some African countries.
Climatic conditions (heavy rains followed by drought) and diseases affecting cocoa trees in Ghana and Ivory Coast, producers of more than half of the world's cocoa, have caused the price of this bean from the Amazon to soar. It has reached a historic high of over $12,900 (€11,000) per tonne by the end of 2024, up 180% from the previous year.
“I don’t remember another time when cocoa prices were higher than coffee prices,” says Edilmer Figueroa, an agronomist at Cacao Hunters, a Colombian company specializing in high-quality chocolate. As a result, while coffee-growing areas have shrunk,
Courrier International
