Michael UguliniCommodity: Cocoa... to become Good Old Chocolate!
January 29th 2009 04:10
Cocoa is one of the world's smallest soft commodity markets. However, it doesn't lack importance or influence. Just ask the cocoa importers, exporters, food and candy/confection producers, and the wholesale and retail food industries.
There is historical lore that cocoa received introduction into Central America by the ancient Mayans. It further found its way into Europe via the Spaniards in the 1500s. Today, over 3,000,000 metric tons of cocoa grow annually worldwide. Cocoa powder is part of chocolate, cocoa butter, and finds use as a coloring agent for various food products.
Cocoa beans are the seeds from the seedpod of a tropical tree...the cacao tree. Dried (by the sun or steam) and fully fermented, the fatty seed is an ingredient in that luscious chocolate enjoyed by millions. The pod that houses the seed has a tough covering and this pod is a yellowish red.
Some Links of Interest:
INTERNATIONAL COCOA ORGANIZATION
CHOCOLATE USA
THE WESTERN EUROPE COCOA MARKET
COCOA FEDERATION
WORLD COCOA FOUNDATION
Cocoa is native to the Americas and cocoa powder is the powder of ground-roasted cacao beans with the majority of the fat taken out.
Cocoa futures trade on world markets. The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) has available a cocoa futures contract for trading on the CME Globex® trading platform. These contracts clear through NYMEX ClearPort® clearing. The trading unit is ten metric tons and the price quotation is in $US Dollars per metric ton. Minimum price fluctuations for cocoa are not less than one dollar ($1.00) per metric ton. The trading symbol for cocoa is CJ.
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Inc.
Based in Durango, Colorado and incorporated in 1982, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Inc. is an international franchiser, confectionary manufacturer, and retail operator in the United Sates, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates.
They have a broad line of premium chocolate candies. They also make a complement of other confectionary products. They produce approximately 300 chocolate candies and other products. During Christmas, Easter, and Valentine's seasons they can make as much as 100 additional items. They also sell over 15 premium fudges and other in-store prepared items in their retail stores.
The Hershey Company
The Hershey Company is the largest North American manufacturer of chocolate and sugar confectionary products. Just conjure up images of those Hershey's chocolate bars, Reese's, Hershey's Kisses, and Kit Kat.
Milton S. Hershey from rural central Pennsylvania is the man who started the company. In 1893, at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, he became enthralled with the chocolate making art. While in Chicago, he purchased some German machinery. He had this machinery shipped to Lancaster, Pennsylvania where he had his Lancaster Caramel Company.
There, he began producing chocolate to coat his caramels. He was a visionary as he saw the increasing demand for chocolate and concentrated his efforts in this direction. He started the Hershey Chocolate Company and the rest is a rich history. Just like the chocolate that built his company.
Cacao trees cross-pollinate, so there are a variety of pod types. These are in mainly three classifications called Criollo, Forastero, and Trinitario. Many cocoa farmers grow several varieties of cocoa beans. Cacao growers increasingly are turning to hybridization to improve the quality of the bean. They also do this to make the bean more resistant to disease. Scientists are using modern biotechnology to achieve these two ends.
WATCH..."FARM TO MARKET: CHOCOLATE"
There is historical lore that cocoa received introduction into Central America by the ancient Mayans. It further found its way into Europe via the Spaniards in the 1500s. Today, over 3,000,000 metric tons of cocoa grow annually worldwide. Cocoa powder is part of chocolate, cocoa butter, and finds use as a coloring agent for various food products.
Cocoa beans are the seeds from the seedpod of a tropical tree...the cacao tree. Dried (by the sun or steam) and fully fermented, the fatty seed is an ingredient in that luscious chocolate enjoyed by millions. The pod that houses the seed has a tough covering and this pod is a yellowish red.
Some Links of Interest:
INTERNATIONAL COCOA ORGANIZATION
CHOCOLATE USA
THE WESTERN EUROPE COCOA MARKET
COCOA FEDERATION
WORLD COCOA FOUNDATION
Cocoa is native to the Americas and cocoa powder is the powder of ground-roasted cacao beans with the majority of the fat taken out.
Cocoa futures trade on world markets. The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) has available a cocoa futures contract for trading on the CME Globex® trading platform. These contracts clear through NYMEX ClearPort® clearing. The trading unit is ten metric tons and the price quotation is in $US Dollars per metric ton. Minimum price fluctuations for cocoa are not less than one dollar ($1.00) per metric ton. The trading symbol for cocoa is CJ.
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Inc.
Based in Durango, Colorado and incorporated in 1982, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Inc. is an international franchiser, confectionary manufacturer, and retail operator in the United Sates, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates.
They have a broad line of premium chocolate candies. They also make a complement of other confectionary products. They produce approximately 300 chocolate candies and other products. During Christmas, Easter, and Valentine's seasons they can make as much as 100 additional items. They also sell over 15 premium fudges and other in-store prepared items in their retail stores.
The Hershey Company
The Hershey Company is the largest North American manufacturer of chocolate and sugar confectionary products. Just conjure up images of those Hershey's chocolate bars, Reese's, Hershey's Kisses, and Kit Kat.
Milton S. Hershey from rural central Pennsylvania is the man who started the company. In 1893, at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, he became enthralled with the chocolate making art. While in Chicago, he purchased some German machinery. He had this machinery shipped to Lancaster, Pennsylvania where he had his Lancaster Caramel Company.
There, he began producing chocolate to coat his caramels. He was a visionary as he saw the increasing demand for chocolate and concentrated his efforts in this direction. He started the Hershey Chocolate Company and the rest is a rich history. Just like the chocolate that built his company.
Cacao trees cross-pollinate, so there are a variety of pod types. These are in mainly three classifications called Criollo, Forastero, and Trinitario. Many cocoa farmers grow several varieties of cocoa beans. Cacao growers increasingly are turning to hybridization to improve the quality of the bean. They also do this to make the bean more resistant to disease. Scientists are using modern biotechnology to achieve these two ends.
WATCH..."FARM TO MARKET: CHOCOLATE"
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