Business

Saturday August 8, 2009

Grinders seek land to overcome cocoa crunch

By HANIM ADNAN


PETALING JAYA: Major cocoa grinders are looking to cultivate up to 20,000ha of cocoa in Malaysia to address the shortage of cocoa beans supply from major producers in Indonesia and Thailand, says Malaysia Cocoa Board (MCB) director-general Datuk Dr Azhar Ismail.

He said frustration over inconsistent supply of imported cocoa beans had led many cocoa grinders to seek MCB’s assistance in sourcing for suitable land for them to embark on the upstream operation.

“We plan to push for more cocoa cultivation by encouraging the Pahang and Johor governments to consider opening up more green fields or idle land for this crop,” he told StarBizWeek.

Malaysia is now Asia’s largest cocoa grinding and processing hub with 11 major cocoa-grinding players.

Azhar said there was currently a huge imbalance between local cocoa beans production versus grinding activities. Malaysia is currently the fifth largest producer of cocoa beans in the world.

“The current annual cocoa beans production of about 30,000 tonnes can only meet about 10% of the 11 major cocoa grinders’ consumption, while the remaining 90% needs to be imported,” he added.

An estimated 423,946 tonnes of cocoa beans were imported last year to support the local grinders.

“There is an urgent need to increase local cocoa beans production given Malaysia’s big cocoa grinding and processing activities,” said Azhar.

Despite diminishing cocoa acreage to oil palm cultivation, the installed grinding capacity rose to 360,000 tonnes in 2008 from 80,000 tonnes in 1990.

For 2009, MCB expects cocoa hectarage to reach 25,000ha and cocoa beans production at 32,000 tonnes.

Malaysia is fast gaining a reputation as an exporter of high quality cocoa butter, cocoa powder and cocoa liquor worldwide.

“Unknown to many, Malaysia’s cocoa exports last year hit a record RM3.35bil with cocoa butter representing the bulk,” Azhar added.

The Government has set a 2020 target for cocoa hectarage and tonnage to reach 40,000ha and 60,000 tonnes respectively.

  • E-mail this story
  • Print this story