Year of 2024 could be the year of cocoa. The tree produces “brown-yellow” fruit has been the raw material for the chocolate industry. Since the beginning of the year, world and domestic cocoa prices have remained high. The dream of becoming the Asian capital of cocoa twenty years ago has been revived for Vietnamese cocoa.
According to the Vietnam Commodity Exchange (MXV), as of August 14, the world cocoa price was $7,000 per ton. It went up 62% compared to the beginning of the year and double that of the same period in 2023. In the domestic market, at the end of August 14, the price of cocoa beans fluctuated between 60,000-65,000 VND/kg.
Vietnamese cocoa seeds
Cocoa production has actually declined sharply in the two countries of Ivory Coast and Ghana in West Africa. These two countries have been the world’s leading cocoa producers with over 70% of the total global cocoa volume.
In the meanwhile, consumption demand has maintained a growth rate, causing cocoa prices to skyrocket. MXV said that the pull from world cocoa prices and the narrowing supply situation have created conditions for domestic cocoa prices to remain high.
In Vietnam, cocoa was once expected to become an important industrial crop with a vision of development, expanding both scale and productivity. There was even a time when cocoa expected to become a crop that would help farmers escape poverty.
Fresh cocoa in Vietnam
Vietnamese cocoa has gone through a period of ups and downs. After a period of strong growth, the cocoa area suddenly decreased rapidly. Local farmers cut it down to grow other crops with higher economic value, despite the expectations of policy makers.
In fact, Vietnam has received a lot of support from organizations and chocolate corporations around the world. They have helped with finance, technology, and infrastructure construction to turn Vietnam into a cocoa capital of Asia.
However, after 2012, the price of Vietnamese cocoa suddenly dropped to only 3,000 VND/kg of fresh fruit. It went down more than 50% compared to before. Along with that, the prices of products competing for land with cocoa trees such as coconut, green-skinned grapefruit, and pepper always increased sharply.
Vietnamese cocoa fruits
As a result, local growers cut down cocoa trees to grow crops with higher economic value. The dream of a cocoa capital temporarily put aside for immediate food and clothing goals. Vietnamese cocoa trees mainly intercropped with other crops in the Mekong Delta, the Central Highlands, and the Southeast.
In 2014, Vietnam set a target that by 2020, the total cocoa growing area would be about 50,000 hectares. The average yield would be about 1.2 kilograms of dry beans/tree. However, the productivity needs to raise to 2 kilograms to be attractive enough to encourage people to expand sustainable cocoa development.
By 2019, the cocoa growing area was only 5,028 hectares, only 10% of the target set for 2020. Since then, cocoa has not been mentioned in stories about the development of industrial crops in Vietnam.
In 2024, when prices are at record levels, West African cocoa countries have reduced their supply. The cocoa story of Vietnam that was once expected to become the cocoa capital of Asia is mentioned again. However, at the present stage, Vietnam’s cocoa output is quite low. In the 2024 crop year, Vietnam’s cocoa output is 1,500 tons, down 25% compared to the previous crop year.
Drying Vietnamese cocoa
In the previous crop year, Vietnam’s cocoa exports reached 1,700 tons, out of about 2,000 tons of production output, accounting for about 85%. However, the output of 2,000 tons only accounts for about 0.04% of global output.
Normally, Vietnam does not have an annual cocoa export quota, if the output is high, the export activity also increases and vice versa. Compared to the export volume of the previous year, MXV estimates that in 2024, Vietnam can export 1,200 tons, equivalent to about 70% of exports.
The participation of businesses producing chocolate from cocoa beans rich in the characteristics of Vietnam’s growing areas, with brand value and commercial success such as Marou, Alluvia… also opens up hope for output for this industrial crop. However, experts have warned about the shortage of raw materials – which could happen as early as two or three years – if the domestic agricultural sector does not make timely calculations.
Cocoa powder in Vietnam
If you are interested in cocoa from Vietnam, please do not hesitate to contact us on the following information:
Company: Agrideco Vietnam Co., Ltd.
Address: No 02, Alley 325 Kim Nguu, Lane 24D, Thanh Luong Ward, Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel/Whatsapp: +84 989 649 804
Website: https://agridecovietnam.com
Email: agridecovietnam@gmail.com
Vietnamese source: https://thesaigontimes.vn/ca-cao-viet-nam-dau-giac-mo-thanh-thu-phu-chau-a