(Business in Cameroon) - Out of a traded production of over 269,000 tons of cocoa registered during the 2015-2016 season, which crop year officially ended on 15 July, industrial processing operating in Cameroon only grinded 29,927 tons of beans, an authorised source of the cocoa-coffee board confided.

This industrial processors activity is therefore in decrease by approximately 10%, compared to the 32,143 tons of the previous campaign. Indeed, in 2014-2015, Sic Cacaos, local subsidiary of Barry Callebaut, and Chococam, local subsidiary of Tiger Brands; officially processed for their parts a volume of 32,112 tons. Which corresponded to about 20% of the national cocoa production then estimated to 232,530 tons.

According to our information, until the end of the last cocoa season, only 27,991 tons were processed locally by Sic Cacaos, against a little over 2,000 for Chococam. However, our source stressed, the sector was expecting grindings of at least 75,000 tons by the end of the season, due in part to the increase in the grinding capacities of Sic Cacaos and Fapam Industry, an industrial unit located in the city of Mbalmayo, in the Central region.

To these volumes grinded by industries, there is however in addition about 20,000 tons of beans grinded on a yearly basis within the traditional units sometimes operated by the producers themselves. Which brings to less than 50,000 tons the global volume of grindings registered in Cameroon during the last season. Thus less than 15% of the grindings goals forecast by the operators of the sector and the government by 2020 (300,000 tons), as part of the stimulus plan for the cocoa-coffee sectors.

Brice R. Mbodiam

Lire aussi:
02-09-2015 - Le Cameroun s’achemine vers une capacité de broyage supérieure à 100 000 tonnes de cacao par an
02-06-2015 - Sic Cacaos investit 5 milliards FCfa pour porter ses capacités de transformation à 50 000 tonnes
03-08-2015 - Le groupe ivoirien Atlantique veut construire une unité de transformation du cacao au Cameroun
14-04-2015 - SNV offre une unité de transformation aux cacaoculteurs de Konye, dans le Sud-Ouest du Cameroun