31 Jan 2019 --- A diversification of trees on cocoa plantations will be key to securing the future of the cocoa and chocolate industry, says the CEO of leading French cocoa group, Cémoi. The company purchases some 145,000 tons of cocoa beans each year, which accounts for approximately 3 percent of the entire global volume. Patrick Poirrier, who heads Cémoi, stresses that today what it promotes to farmers is that the onus should no longer be on the monoculture of cocoa, with the growth of other crops, including banana and pineapple, necessary to securing the future of cocoa itself. “It is really about farmers being entrepreneurs. Of course we promote cocoa, but we also believe that farmers should diversify their revenue with other different crops,” he told FoodIngredientsFirst at ISM 2019, which finished in Cologne yesterday.
