Head of Corporate Operations said the challenges they faced internally helped to bring the team closer together. “We have learnt how resilient and innovative people can be in the face of unplanned situations like this,” he said. “Our teams have been very collaborative during these times and we have witnessed a true demonstration of one of our key values: succeed together.” The fine flavour segment was more prone to problems at the time of the outbreak. Not surprising as crop maintenance and much of the logistical post-harvest work was dependent on an active labour force.
PARTNERING FOR SUSTAINABILITY The effect varied from country to country with the likes of Honduras and Guatemala suffering from early curfews. Further down the chain, there was still demand for premium products, thanks to the fact that supermarkets remained open. But restaurants and specialty shops were not, so the high-quality end was affected. All in all, the craft chocolate sector and small chocolate businesses appear to have been affected the most. The Fine Cacao and Chocolate Institute (FCCI) recently carried out a survey to better understand the impact on small chocolate businesses. The survey revealed that the cancellation of industry events was a major source for the decline in craft chocolate sales. Lower consumer demand, of course, also played an important role. Smaller chocolate businesses responded by focusing on online sales, creating platforms such as Stay Home with Chocolate. A product of FCCI, Uncommon Cacao, and the Craft Chocolate Experience, it supported small business with a range of initiatives, including live tastings, virtual tours and by sharing inspirational stories in a bid to “foster a collective action for the financial solvency crisis in the specialty cacao and chocolate sector”.
It welcomed their participation by announcing: “Our global community has a new normal. Social distancing keeps guests away from cacao and chocolate experiences, thousands are kept from their plantations, factories, and kitchens as we await a permanent solution for the coronavirus pandemic.”
It went on: “The #StayHomeWithChocolate Festival is an emergent, temporary, and collaborative platform to keep interest and boost alternative ways to celebrate global chocolate companies and the consumers that love their products.” The Brussels-based Eurococoa, a platform run by the influential ECA, carried regular lists of the EU announcements on border management measures and green lanes, as well as quarterly statistics on the continent’s cocoa bean grindings, vital indications of
developments in demand. In September, the European Commission began an initiative to improve sustainability in the cocoa sector, bringing together representatives from Ghana and the Ivory Coast with delegates from the European Parliament and EU member states.
It was hoped that the partnerships would deliver recommendations to advance sustainability across the supply chain and help to guide the sector’s recovery. Some good news came as the UK prepared to go into its second period of lockdown the following month. Supermarkets were reporting sales increases on comfort foods, with spending on chocolate increasing by £50 million year-on-year, mainly due to chocolate bars bought to eat at home as “comfort food”.
But while impulse buys such as single bars, often bought at newsagents, dipped slightly, the biggest increase was in sales of multipacks and large “sharing bars”. And while the sales increase is only three per cent up on
the total value of chocolate sales, the amount eaten was estimated to have risen by two or three times that level because the supermarket types are cheaper.
“THE FESTIVAL IS AN EMERGENT AND COLLABORATIVE PLATFoRM TO KEEP INTEREST AND BOOST AlTERNATIVE WAYS TO CELEBRATE GLOBAL CHOCOLATE COMPAnies AND THE CONSUMERS THAT LOVE all of THEIR PRODUCTS”
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