The International Confectionery Association has held two meetings in Cologne, Germany on cocoa supply chain issues. In addition to ICA, attendees included NCA, CAOBISCO, CMA Australia, CMA Canada, Confectionery Association of Japan, World Cocoa Foundation, Federation of Cocoa Commerce, European Cocoa Association and chocolate manufacturers.

The first meeting addressed global pesticide use in growing areas with a focus on West Africa and the evolving regulatory climate in end markets for cocoa and chocolate. It was agreed that additional, globally coordinated efforts are needed to provide cocoa farmers and their governments with information on chemical selection and use in order to reduce the risk of non-compliant beans in various end markets.
The second meeting focused on free fatty acid development in cocoa beans in the Ivory Coast. A guest speaker from CIRAD provided an overview of the factors involved in FFA development as well as an analysis of FFA data in Ivory Coast beans. Harvest and post harvest practices are major contributors to FFAs. There was broad support for stronger messaging on harvest practices in farmer education programs. There was also support to evaluate the methodology used to quantify FFAs. A more standard method will allow for greater comparison of data.