Episode 3 - The Price of Cacao
Episode Highlights
(1:00) How does the recent drop in commodity cacao prices impact cacao farmers?
(3:16) How, if at all, will the cacao trade be affected by an upcoming vote in Switzerland to extend the Swiss view on human rights extraterritorially to cacao-producing regions.
(6:48) What happens when cacao prices drop?
(9:55) Does the craft chocolate movement take a bigger hit than commodity cacao when cacao prices drop?
(13:00) Can poorer farmers access the craft chocolate movement in order to get better prices for their cacao?
(14:55) What kinds of issues make Côte d'Ivoire the epicenter for cacao supply chain inequalities?
(17:30) What is the role of the Swiss chocolate industry in cacao sourcing, and are there new business models that Swiss companies can adopt to take advantage of Switzerland’s role as a global chocolate leader?
(22:30) What are some creative business models in coffee?
(27:50) What if price wasn’t the primary metric for consumers?
(34:25) Sunita describes Happy Chocolate and the importance of the price-quality connection.
Favorite Quotations
Sunita: “It ends up being the cocoa farmers who bear all the risk and don’t win when there is an upside and definitely lose when something like this happens and they have a lot of cacao and they are not in a position to negotiate and there are so few buyers.”
Sunita: “What’s clear is that the farmers have no leverage and no power and are already living below poverty level.”
Sunita: “Change will come when customers are making different choices and holding big companies accountable and we don’t want to take part in what we now understand as pretty brutal practices.”
Sunita: “It has to be delicious and it has to be treating the whole supply chain well.”
Mentions
Gary Guittard of Guittard Chocolate Company: www.guittard.com and @GuittardChoco
Callebaut: www.callebaut.com and @BCgroupnews
Uncommon Cacao: www.uncommoncacao and @uncommoncacao
Momotombo: www.momotombochocolatefactory.com
Felchlin: www.felchlin.com/en
Choba Choba: www.chobachoba.com and @chobachobachoc
Divine Chocolate: www.divinechocolate.com and and @divinechocolate
Locol: www.welocol.com and @welocol
Seth Godin: www.sethgodin.com and @ThisIsSethsBlog