The PNG Government will now prioritise cocoa processing in the country, beginning with budget allocation for next year.
Minister for National Planning, Richard Maru, said on the eve of the Cocoa of Excellence Show in Lae, that the Government wants to eventually do away with the export of semi processed cocoa beans.
Minister Maru said Government has seen the potential of cocoa for the future of PNG. As such, it has provided funding to the Cocoa Board of PNG to focus on growing the volume of cocoa from 2 million seeds a year out of Kerevat to building three more regional cocoa nurseries, which will see a minimum of 8 million seedlings produced per year for farmers.
“The next focus is quality and I am happy with the work of the Cocoa Board of PNG and some of our farmers in ensuring quality and some of our cocoa products have received international awards for their very high quality,” Minister Maru said.
He said one of the major concerns of the country is that most, if not all of PNG’s cocoa, is going and creating jobs and making money for other people and the biggest winners of PNG’s cocoa are the middle men and the final processors.
“They are the ones winning from the sweat of our farmers. This will stop. Over the next 5 years, we need to shift away from exporting dry beans and focus now on downstream processing,” stated Maru.
“We need to process our own cocoa in-country. The Cocoa Board of PNG and National Agriculture Research Institute (NARI) must seriously look into cocoa processing in the country. Instead of depending on the global market, why can’t we process and create jobs in Papua New Guinea. And we get more value because we are exporting our end products,” Minister Maru said.
As far as prices and profits go, cocoa beans are currently selling for 2.5 USD/Kg or K8.50 (commodity price); processing products such as butter, liqueur and powder are selling for 6-8 USD/kg or K21-K27; and end products like chocolate bars are sell for 8-120 USD/kg or K27-K408.
“We will pay our farmers a lot more if we process cocoa in the country. So we are focusing on production, quality and starting next year, our focus will be on processing,” Minister Maru said.
PNG is currently among the top 15 cocoa producing countries in the world, producing on average about 42 million tonnes a year. By 2022, PNG wants to hit a production rate 4 times greater than what it is producing today and expand over a K1 billion plus on exports.
Minister Maru said cocoa has the potential to be a bigger crop in the country. He said the Cocoa Board of PNG, stakeholders and the whole cocoa value chain must firstly ensure that the country’s own consumer demands are met and then look at exporting our own end products.
Downstream processing is the way forward. By 2022, the Government is aiming to establish small processing plants to process all PNG cocoa in the country. The success of Queen Emma Chocolate by Paradise Foods is an eye opener and should be embraced by all.
He also commended the Cocoa Board of PNG for its decision to assist farmers move away from wood-fired driers by 2022 to using newer technologies. Furthermore, by 2022 there should be a number of processing plants for PNG’s raw cocoa to ensure added value.
Last year, PNG produced a total of about 44 million tonnes of Cocoa and Cocoa Board CEO, Boto Gaupu, said they want to still grow the industry in the country.
The Cocoa of Excellence Show is a valuable initiative of the Cocoa Board of PNG that promotes the benefits and value of producing high quality cocoa beans. It brings together selected cocoa farmers from all parts of the country to showcase their farming practices and their cocoa beans produced under those production regimes.
Gaupu said the Cocoa Board is obliged to convene such a show as a member of the International Cocoa Organization as part of its mission to promote, amongst the farming communities of the world, the highest standards in cocoa quality attainment and adopt the best cocoa farm management practices for a sustainable global industry.
An integral part of the Cocoa Industry, the show is in preparation for entry of PNG’s best cocoa bean into the International Cocoa of Excellence competition which is held biannually in Paris, France.
Gaupu added that awards will be presented to the best coca farmers, and best cocoa bean producers based on their bean ratings for Cocoa Liquor and Chocolate quality.
The theme of the Show is “Promoting Cocoa Quality through strong Partnerships”, recognising the crucial role of the private sector in enhancing the industry value chain, and agriculture development in general.