Cocoa Quality - contract parameters

The Federation continues to maintain a close relationship with the chocolate industry in relation to manufacturer's quality requirements.

For many years the chocolate manufacturer's associations have sought changes to the specifications for cocoa bean purchases under the physical cocoa contracts operated by the physical cocoa associations principally: limit on FFA of 1.25% of the fat content of the bean, moisture level on arrival at port of discharge 7.5%, absence of off flavours, bean size distribution, homogeneity of parcels. The response of the physical trade associations on these points has been that because, within origin, the necessary general conditions and quality controls are not in place at the farm and internal supply chain level, special arrangements are always required to be able to commit to a contract containing these more specific quality requirements i.e. the desired quality and contractual conditions can be met through special clauses and not through the standard physical cocoa framework contract. Agreement upon standard methods for determination of cocoa quantity are also vitally important in this debate.

The FCC Contracts and Regulations Committee is already committed to reviewing these issues taking into account the interests of all members.

The FCC is an active participant in the ICCO Cocoa Quality Task Force which was set up to improve the quality of cocoa. The work programme has produced a comprehensive survey of farming practices in Côte d'Ivoire during 2001. This is also available in French.