Cocoa

The chocolate tree crop of West Africa, whose 2024 squeeze became the commodity story of the year.

Overview

Ivory Coast and Ghana grow about 60 percent, on smallholder farms with aging trees, disease, and underinvestment, with state marketing boards setting farmgate prices in Ivory Coast. New York and London trade it in tonne contracts backed by certified bean stocks. Prices lived between 2,000 and 3,000 dollars a tonne for years, then disease, dry harmattan winds, and structural decline lifted quotes past 10,000 in 2024, breaking chocolate makers and hedge funds alike. Grind data tracks demand, child labor and farmer income debates follow the crop everywhere, and the Living Income Differential added by the two origin countries layers policy on top of price.