agricultural · input
Raw cacao beans from fermented and dried pods; primary raw material for all chocolate and cocoa products. Ivory Coast (~44%) and Ghana (~22%) together supply 65–70% of global production. No viable substitute exists. 2023/24 global supply deficit of 478,000 MT was the largest on record.
5
Source countries
5
Companies
1
Goods affected
0
Claims on record
What depends on it
1 essential American goods rely on cocoa beans (theobroma cacao) somewhere upstream in their supply chain.
Where it comes from
Share of global supply, by country.
| Country | Share of supply |
|---|---|
| CIIvory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) | 44% |
| GHGhana | 14% |
| IDIndonesia | 10% |
| ECEcuador | 7% |
| CMCameroon | 5% |
Who makes it
5 companies produce cocoa beans (theobroma cacao).
World's largest chocolate and cocoa products manufacturer; ~21% of global cocoa grinding share (~1.2M MT annual capacity). Supplies industrial chocolate to most major branded confectionery companies (Nestlé, Hershey, Mondelēz are major clients). 2022 Wieze salmonella contamination cost $77M and shut the world's largest chocolate factory for 6+ weeks.
Third-largest cocoa grinder globally (~14% share); significant West Africa origin presence with origin-grinding facilities in Ivory Coast and Ghana. Part of Olam Group; subsidiary Olam Cocoa operates extensive farmer-level sustainability programs.
World's largest branded chocolate company (Cadbury, Milka, Toblerone, Côte d'Or); ~$26B revenue. Major buyer of Barry Callebaut industrial chocolate and direct cocoa beans. Operates own Cocoa Life sustainability program covering 200,000+ cocoa farmers across 6 countries to address child labor and deforestation compliance.
Touton SA (Bordeaux, France; founded 1848; acquired by Hartree Partners — New York commodity trading firm — January 2026 with EU regulatory clearance) is a major French agro-industrial trading firm specializing in cocoa, coffee, spices, and vanilla. Touton trades approximately 10% of global cocoa volumes — making it the 3rd or 4th largest cocoa trader by volume despite being largely unknown outside the commodity trade. Most of Touton's employees are based in Africa, primarily in Ivory Coast and Ghana. Touton traded 150,000+ tonnes of "sustainable" cocoa beans in 2023-24. Hartree Partners' acquisition (Jan 2026, EU Competition clearance Jan 23) brings Touton into the expanding commodity finance and trading ecosystem. Touton posted net profit of €130M for fiscal year to March 2024 — up from €17M the prior year — benefiting from record cocoa price spikes.
ECOM Agroindustrial Corp. (Lugano Switzerland; private; founded 1849; owned by the Esteve family) is the world's #3 green coffee trader by volume, handling ~9-11% of global green coffee trade including significant Robusta volumes from Vietnam and Indonesia. ECOM's key Robusta asset is Dakman Vietnam — a wholly owned subsidiary based in Buôn Ma Thuột, Dak Lak province, Vietnam's coffee heartland — which operates warehouse, processing, and direct export operations. Dakman Vietnam is one of the largest single exporters of Vietnamese Robusta by volume and has established direct sourcing relationships with farmers in the Central Highlands that give ECOM/Dakman preferential access to premium Robusta lots during tight supply. ECOM also operates in Côte d'Ivoire (West African Robusta) and Indonesia (Sumatra Robusta). ECOM's Swiss parent structure and family ownership make it opaque by public-company standards; trade press estimates place ECOM coffee volume at ~6-8 million bags/year.
