Australian chocolate gains a competitive edge in global cocoa shortage
Chris Jahnke's Far North Queensland cocoa farm is not the cheapest place to buy chocolate, but as the price of imports soars, people are lining up to buy his beans.
"I've actually got a waiting list of people wanting to buy Australian cocoa beans and we just don't have enough to supply them," Mr Jahnke said.
Supply challenges in the major West African cocoa-producing countries, Ghana and Ivory Coast, have led to record prices, driving up the cost of chocolate for consumers.
Not just a cocoa grower, Mr Jahnke also produces chocolate at his Mission Beach property, about 130km south of Cairns in Queensland's far north.
"I get calls probably at least once a week from Australian chocolate makers — these are the sort of boutique, bean-to-bar kind of makers — wanting to buy Australian beans," he said.
"That's not just in Australia. We get inquiries from overseas now that we're becoming a bit more well known."
He expected it would lead to growth in the Australian industry over the next decade.
"I think we'll get to a point where we'll be … maybe producing a couple of thousand tonnes of cocoa here in Australia, which is still a drop in the ocean in the worldwide cocoa supply," he said.
Historically, cocoa prices have averaged close to $4,600 a tonne, according to Rabobank agricultural analyst, Paul Joules.
But by the end of last year, prices peaked at almost $17,000 a tonne, eventually settling at about $14,000 a tonne.
Later this year, the European Union plans to enforce new trade regulations that penalise products linked to deforestation.
It will apply to commodities including cattle, wood, cocoa, soy, palm oil, coffee, rubber, and their associated products.
Mr Joules says it will be a significant change.
"It could have big impacts and it could cause a bit of a shift in supply chains for these key EU importers and where they're getting their products from."
He says, to some degree, prices have already started to move because Europe is a significant importer of cocoa.
"It's going to be very difficult to source products from key [European] producers so that, potentially, was also one of the factors as to why we saw higher prices," Mr Joules said.
"There's already a bit of fear in the market and, of course, depending on how it plays out, it could potentially cause a little bit more upside."
In May, the federal Department of Agriculture said Australia had been classified as a low-risk country under the European regulation.
That means it will be easier for EU businesses to source ingredients grown here than from countries classified as higher risk, like Ivory Coast.
For Mr Janke, that presents a big opportunity.
"Deforestation is a common thing in West Africa, which grows 70 per cent of the cocoa, so there is a significant problem for that industry in Europe," he said.
"Because so much of cocoa is grown in Third World countries, where they have all sorts of compliance issues, we're at the head of the queue just by virtue of where we are."
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