will drive a lot of challenge and change, but ultimately opportunity.
This begs the question of what they can realistically do. The answer is a combination of things. They can use less chocolate – in other words, alternatives to chocolate – and configure their products in a smart way. They could also charge the same price for a smaller product: the “shrinkflation” strategy. A third option is to use chocolate on the outside of the product and use a filling inside with a cost-effective inclusion. Among the alternatives that are still within the confectionary boundary, compound chocolates – made with vegetable fat rather than cocoa products – turn out to be a lot cheaper. The product still looks like a chocolate and tastes like a chocolate to an extent. But it’s not.
Replacing a chocolate chip with a fruit
piece, caramel piece or a biscuit piece serves a similar purpose. The multitexture, multisensory trend within our category is a big opportunity. The consumer is asking for this, the manufacturer needs to do it, and we’re ready to supply it.
to getting more cocoa into the system. In West Africa, campaigners say that the problems facing farmers are formidable. A swollen shoot virus has caused such widespread devastation that in February, regulators at the Ghana Cocoa Board arranged a US$200 million loan from the World Bank.
IRCA is a major supplier of extruded cereals, biscuit pieces, creams, compounds and fillings. These are 30-40% cheaper than chocolate prices, so the more of it you use, the more affordable you make your proposition. If there is going to be a bunfight for available chocolate in the market there may also be a secondary impact to sustainability and traceability – that is, tracking products and materials through their entire lifecycle. This might also hinder manufacturers’ sustainability policies if a manufacturer insists on geo-mapping and selective co- operatives. What happens when there simply isn’t enough product from these sources? In the medium and long term, the industry will need to redouble its efforts when it comes
The plan is to take over farms, replace the diseased trees and hand the properties back to their owners when the new trees are thriving.
Encouraging the next generation into farming is of crucial importance. So is a better mechanism for implementing farmgate prices. The recent steep rise in commodity prices has barely filtered through to 5 million smallholder cocoa farmers of West Africa.
Initiatives to encourage cocoa farming have become more topical in recent years, but they will become essential. In a way, you could argue this crisis, and the shock to the supply chain, is what’s necessary to catalyse the market. And as a result, the necessary long-term changes will take place.
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KennedysConfection.com Kennedy’s Confection April 2024 19
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