7TH EDITION
COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN
·BIG QUESTIONS ALONG THE COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN
Cocoa supply chain is like an hourglass. There are millions of farmers and millions of consumers but only a handful of processors and manufacturers in the middle.
THE BIG QUESTIONS
OF THE SUPPLY CHAIN
FARMERS
Farmers are the first hands on every cocoa bean — the people who turn forest, soil, and weather into the world's favorite indulgence. Without them, there is no chocolate industry.
CO-OPS
Co-operatives are where individual farmers become a collective voice — pooling cocoa, sharing knowledge, holding the data, and negotiating with buyers many times their size.
PISTEURS
Pisteurs are informal or semi‑formal unregulated cocoa intermediaries who buy cocoa beans directly from farmers. They are the daily, local link between farm and market — the buyer who shows up when the road is bad, the season is short, and the cash is needed now. They keep cocoa moving when no one else will.
TRADERS
Traders sit at the hinge of the supply chain — the actor who decides which origins are bought, on what terms, and to which standard. The contract you write today shapes what happens in a cocoa village tomorrow.
PROCESSORS
Processors are the alchemists of cocoa — turning bean into butter, liquor, and powder, and setting the specifications that quietly govern how cocoa is grown. The spec sheet is a moral document, even when no one reads it that way.
MANUFACTURERS
Manufacturers carry the brand — the trust people place in a wrapper, the joy in a square of chocolate, and the reach to shape an entire category. Few industries have such a direct line from a farm to a celebration.
RETAILERS
Retailers decide what the world reaches for. Shelf space, own-label specs, and pricing decisions ripple back through every stage of the supply chain — and forward into every household.
CONSUMERS
Consumers are not just shoppers — they are citizens, parents, voters, and neighbours who happen to love chocolate. Every purchase is a small vote, but the louder vote is the voice.
