Ingredients Insight: What pressures are the cocoa and chocolate sectors facing?
Sofie de Lathouwer: The main challenge is the future cocoa deficit. The global cocoa harvest is only just meeting demand and estimates predict a shortage of a million tons of cocoa by 2020, driven by a growing demand from emerging markets and by the fact that cocoa is in close competition with other crops such as palm oil.
In response, Barry Callebaut is stepping up its efforts with regard to sustainable, top-notch quality cocoa, thus improving farmers’ livelihoods and stabilising and growing cacao production volumes.
In order to tackle this, in March 2012, we launched Cocoa Horizons. Running alongside our existing programmes, Cocoa Horizons is a ten-year global sustainability initiative and the biggest, most comprehensive initiative in our company’s history. It builds on our experience, expertise and relationship with farming communities and our existing farmer programmes, such as the quality partner programme.
This is a sustainability programme based on direct partnerships between Barry Callebaut and farming cooperatives. It enables and encourages farmers to grow and produce cocoa in a sustainable, responsible way. The programme aims to improve quality in distinct ways, such as farmer training in good agricultural practices and the use of sustainable production methods, as well as in harvesting and post-harvesting management practices. QPP is also working towards improving the overall quality of life for cocoa farmers and their families by offering opportunities to earn more from higher yields, as well as through improved access to healthcare and education.
Can you identify the emerging trends in the marketplace?
In an ever-changing market, environment consumer demand evolves continuously. At Barry Callebaut, we have developed a series of six insights, indicating the trends of tomorrow’s chocolate market.
- My daily luxury: this reflects not only the increasing demand for top-notch quality, but also for pure enjoyment. Consumers are looking for more than just a product and want to maximise the quality of their consumption. Premium brands are constantly challenged to offer new, unprecedented taste sensations, and take their services to the next level.
- Smart and convenient: this expresses the increasing demand for affordable indulgence and a growing focus on the essence of value. Today’s consumers are searching for ways to maximise their limited time and budget resources. They look for high performance but, at the same time, reasonably priced products by shopping online and comparing prices, but also buying in bulk. Customers are even prepared to switch brands if the perception of value warrants it.
- Virtuous simplicity: this expresses the value of simple choices and delights. Consumers are faced with an overabundance of choice and an excess of information. At the same time, they are looking for intelligent products and services that simplify this decision-making process. It is important to reassure consumers, and to offer them flexible and ‘quality of life’ products.
- My food: this reflects that tomorrow’s consumers want to be treated as individuals, and expect goods that are as distinct and unique as they are. It’s all about personalisation: textures, colours and flavours will have to convey the experience of scarcity and, with it, uniqueness.
- Human and local: this is the terminology chosen by Barry Callebaut to reflect authenticity, provenance and diversity. In an increasingly globalised marketplace, large numbers of consumers are paying attention to the ‘soul’ of the product. More and more, heritage will become the dominant criterion.
- Respect and responsibility: the story behind the product is increasingly important. Consumers are becoming more sensitised with regards to food brands, sourcing and producing methods, and the treatment of local communities, encouraging companies to be very open and transparent about their proceedings and accountable for their acts.
Can you describe the market communication conditions for sustainable ingredients?
At Barry Callebaut, we believe that transparency and a clear vision are essential when communicating on the subject of sustainable ingredients. Our sustainable products are covered by a range of unambiguous, transparent certification programmes such as UTZ Certified, the Rainforest Alliance and Fairtrade.
At Barry Callebaut, the quality partner programme (being the basis for Cocoa Horizons) is the perfect example of projects with a well-thought-through vision: In 2005, we launched the initiative in Côte d’Ivoire, aiming to secure the production of sustainably grown cocoa. In 2010, the quality partner programme was expanded to Cameroon. As mentioned above, it is a long-term sustainability programme based on direct partnerships between Barry Callebaut and farmer cooperatives.
The quality partner programme aims to improve quality through a set of different measures, such as training farmers in good agricultural, harvesting and post-harvesting management practices. The programme is also working towards improving the overall quality of life of cocoa farmers and their families by offering opportunities to earn more from higher yields, as well as through improved access to healthcare and education.
How is the global chocolate market evolving?
When one compares the worldwide chocolate markets, it appears that emerging regions such as Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific, which are experiencing a high rate of growth, are compensating for the lower growth rates in the more mature chocolate markets like Europe and Americas.
How does Barry Callebaut stand out from its competitors?
Barry Callebaut is absolutely unique in that its global footprint contains fewer than 45 production facilities around the globe; we are on a continuous track of expansion and also aim to be develop very close relationships with our customers.
In all our facilities one ground rule is upheld: chocolate is at the heart of what we do, and all our activities are unquestionably focused on chocolate and chocolate-related products. At Barry Callebaut, we never lose sight of the fact that this core element is a quality specific to our company.
In the sector, Barry Callebaut is known as a serial innovator. Examples of this forward-thinking attitude include the Terra Cacao range, which offers the customer an unprecedented level of taste purity, and Sweet by Fruits, a chocolate that integrates a sweetening solution entirely derived from fruits. Recently, our capacity for innovation was again confirmed with the launch of the first cocoa powder on the market to have originated in Cameroon.
Furthermore, while the final approval by the European Commission is of course still pending, the recent positive opinion by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concerning Barry Callebaut’s health claim again confirms our company’s leading role in innovation.
Our company also differentiates itself through its customer-oriented approach. Considerable resources are invested in careful analysis of market trends in order to stay in touch with the evolving customer preferences at all times. Recently, Barry Callebaut opened its state-of-the-art Decorations Inspirations Lab in Zundert, the Netherlands, offering customers a trendy, specialised environment to create endless variations of concepts using its decorations and products.
