'India emerging market for cocoa, should become ICCO member': Official

India, an emerging market for consumption of cocoa, should become a member of the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) in a bid to take part in the policy dialogue, ICCO Executive Director Michel Arrion said.

Currently, India annually produces only 27,000 tonnes of cocoa, used largely in the manufacturing of chocolates, and imports about 100,000 tonnes worth of cocoa-based products like butter.

Speaking to PTI, the ICCO Executive Director said, "Production of cocoa in India is very low. But any country producing one tonne of cocoa is eligible to become our member."

India imports a lot and is one of the emerging markets for consumption of cocoa in Asia. It should become a member of the ICCO, he said, adding both producing and consuming countries are eligible to be members of the ICCO.

ICCO, an inter-governmental organisation of consumers and producers of cocoa, is based in Abidjan, the economic capital of Cote d'lvoire, West Africa.

Listing out the advantages of becoming a member, Arrion said it provides an opportunity to discuss with big players and participate in policy making.

The additional benefit the members get is -- statistical information, economic analysis, free participation in events and technical assistance in formulation of policies, he said.

Arrion said, cocoa consumption has become saturated in the traditional markets of Europe and North America and producing countries are looking at the emerging market of Asia in a big way.

"There is a lot of potential for consumption of cocoa-based products, not just chocolate in India," he said.

The consumption of chocolates is not really developing in India though big brands have made investments in the country. However, there is a market for cocoa consumption in non-chocolate products like biscuits and dairy products, he said.

"India is very famous for biscuits and dairy products and cocoa is used as an ingredient in these products. The more you consume biscuits and dairy products, the more you incorporate cocoa," he said.

According to the ICCO official, China too does not consume chocolate but started using cocoa as an ingredient in dairy products just like India.

The only countries with a high level of cocoa consumption in Asia are Japan, South Korea and Indonesia.

The ICCCO official mentioned that there is a need to explore emerging markets to ensure farmers get better prices.

On global cocoa production, the official said there was a constant increase in production but it is getting stable now.

The world production of cocoa was little less than 5 million tonnes in the 2022-23 marketing year (October-September).

(The PTI journalist was in Abidjan on the invitation of the Cocoa regulator Le Conseil di Caf-Cacao).