Cocoa suppliers may benefit from consolidation

Sunny Verghese, CEO of Olam International, a leading suppliers of cotton, cocoa, sugar and rice, believes global cocoa demand will increase if the current consolidation talks between major players in the global confectionery market materialise.

Olam, which supplies cocoa and cocoa raw materials to companies such as Kraft Foods, Cadbury, Ferrero and Hershey, would benefit from an eventual merger if extra competitive advantage is created as a result of further consolidation. Olam recently announced a 27.5% increase in quarterly profit.