In 2022, the Americas was the region with the second largest production volume of cocoa beans in the world,
. For centuries, cocoa and chocolate have been very popular all over the world, but cocoa production is not without challenges and issues. The chocolate market, however, especially the
Cocoa production in the region
In 2022,
Latin America and the Caribbean produced over a million metric tons of cocoa beans. Production increased consistently in the decade leading up to that year, increasing by approximately 50 percent between 2012 and 2022.
South America produced around 87 percent of the whole region’s cocoa beans, while the Caribbean produced almost eight percent. Ecuador is the leading producer in the region and is among the
top cocoa producers worldwide.
Cocoa exports from Latin America to the world
The region is also an important exporter of cocoa and cocoa products. In 2022, the
export value of cocoa and cocoa preparations reached over 2.8 billion U.S. dollars, about 35 percent more than a decade earlier. As with production, Ecuador is also a
major exporter of cocoa beans and cocoa products. In fact, it reported a cocoa and cocoa products export value of over a billion U.S. dollars that same year.
Environmental and labor challenges in the industry
Environmental challenges are a common threat to agricultural production in general, and cocoa is no exception, as cocoa trees require consistent rainfall and high temperatures to grow. However, Latin American and Caribbean production of cocoa beans has continuously grown in recent years, in part thanks to the worst of climate change sparing the cocoa-growing region. Moreover, cocoa is often at the heart of many scandals related to labor rights violations, child labor, and overall low wages. A recent example involved
multinational FMCG giant Nestlé. Such concerns have led to various initiatives promoting sustainable agricultural practices and fairer wages for local producers, and indeed,
cocoa is the second largest type of organic crop in the region. It remains to be seen whether these efforts will have a larger impact on the cocoa industry.
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