Case study - Cocoa Cartel Stirs Up Global Chocolate Market

Case study: Cocoa Cartel
Stirs Up Global Chocolate
Market

Introduction
Will ‘
GHANA-IVORY COAST COCOA CARTEL (COPEC)’ solve problems for cocoa
farmers?
 The study tries to find an answer to this question.
 COPEC is a union of Ivory Coast and Ghana for selling cocoa beans at
premium pricing

Methodology
 Based on the information provided in the case study
 The external resources will be used to add more weight to the
answers

Findings
Similarities and differences between COPEC and OPEC:
 COPEC like for OPEC is a union of two world’s largest producer of cocoa, Ivory Coast and Ghana (WSJ 2020)
 COPEC safeguards the cocoa farmers against challenges like fluctuating cocoa prices and oversupply of
cocoa (WSJ 2020)
 COPEC like for OPEC might have its nemesis in its farmers who do not know ways to respond to a
decreased demand (WSJ 2020)

Continues..
Sustainability theme:
 Population growth and urbanization have affected land rights of
farmers (WSJ 2020)
 Premium pricing for cocoa from Ivory Coast and Ghana will make Ice
Cream, Candy Bars, Biscuits and other baked goods pricier(WSJ 2020)
 This new cartel receives support from the U.S. three big candy
makers; Mars, Mondelez and Hershey WSJ 2020)

Continues..
 Living costs for farmers have steadily gone up despite the price
fluctuation of cocoa in the international market (Ingram
et al. 2018)
 might perhaps provide a more stable income for the cocoa farmers
provided if the initiative really turns out the way as anticipated (WSJ
2020)
 The use of technology such as for cutting crops can be time-saving
and will also increase the farmers' productivity (De Figueiredo Silva
et
al. 2019)
 The central governments of Ivory Coast and Ghana can educate
farmers on the technology (De Figueiredo Silva
et al. 2019)