During the 2019-2020 cocoa campaign (which ended on July 15, 2020) Cameroonian cocoa was exported to 13 countries. According to the campaign review document published by the National Cocoa and Coffee Board (NCCB), three new countries have appeared on the list while four have disappeared.
The newcomers were South Korea, Albania, and Lebanon while the outgoers were the United States of America, Mexico, Canada, and France.
At first glance, the case of France seems curious since the country, via the Confederation of Chocolate and Confectioners of France, has partnered with producers in the production areas where there exist cocoa Center of Excellences (renowned for their production of cocoa of excellence).
“France has indeed disappeared from the list of destinations for generic cocoa, that is cocoa grades I and II which constitute the bulk of our exports (ed.note: 99.9% during the 2019-2020 campaign). But, this country has become a niche market for premium cocoa from Cameroon,” explains a source in the cocoa-coffee industry.
The top 5 destinations for Cameroonian cocoa during the campaign under review were Holland (62.3% of overall cocoa exports), China (9.8%), Malaysia (8.2%), Indonesia (6.2%), and Germany (3.3%), which completes the top five.
