COCOA FROM SULAWESI.

Sulawesi is one of the 17,340 islands of Indonesia. From the air is looks somewhat like an octapus with four large tentacles. It is surrounded by beautiful waters full of marine life and coral reefs which make it a world class diving destination.

With land area of 174,600square kilometers is is the 11 largest island in the world with a populationof 16million. An island of much spectacle in views and culture is also home of Asian and Australasian species.Much of the flora and fauna do not exist out of Sulawesi.

Many of us will know Sulawesi by Starbucks Sulawesi Coffee. It is a seasonal coffee with a heavy body and just a little spicy. But Sulawesi is really famous for being of a world supplier of cocoa beans. Sulawesi beans are usually unfermented, bulk beans used as fillers with other fermented beans.

Sulawesi produces about 400,000 metric tons of cocoa beans and products( almost 80% of Indonesia production, including Java and Sumatraq.

Sulawesi cocoa beans are produced by small holder farmers on .5 to 1.5 hectacres of farms.Each farm produces between 400 to 800kg per hectacre.Sulawesi have some of the highest cocoa bean yields in the world and one of the largest areas in production. About two million people on Sulawesi are dependant on cocoa beans for their livlihood.

Farmers sell to collectors on motorbikes. Collectors sell to traders. Traders sell to local exporters. Small amounts go to local processors. 80% of the Sulawesi beans are sold by five multi-national affliate exporters in Sulawesi:EDF & Man, Olam, Cargill, ADM and Continaf. They in turn sort and grade and sell to buyers in US, Malaysia,Singapore and Brazil. There are also processors and manufacturers locally, one of the largest being Effem(Mars). Once out of Indonesia Indonesian cocoa beans become part of the global trade in cocoa.

Sulawesi cocoa beans are traded as "Sulawesi FAQ" in the New York Commodities Exchange.


Sulawesi farmers get about 80% of the export value of the beans as against 50%-60% in West Africa. There is no exploitation of children in the Indonesian cocoa trade.

The major problems which effect yield and quality is disease, (Cocoa Pod Borer) and the traditional methods used by small holder farmers. However with much support from government, World Cocoa Foundation, international and local institutions and processors and manufacturers farmers field schools are being set up. A pilot on Fermentationis being set up in Bali and disease control practices are being implemented.

Sulawesi is a most picteresque island. Created specially for two kinds of hiking, along the intricate coastline or inland into the central mountainous regions and the 2,290sq km national park. It was also created for the best experiences you can imagine in snorkling or deep diving.

MORE ABOUT OLYMPIANS.

It's good modern day Olympians enjoy chocolate. Ancient Olympians did not have that privilege and had to work much harder on their diets. This piece of information comes from National Geographic 2004. It relates an account by Theodorus of Hierapolis.

Milon of Croton was an ancient Olympian wrestler. He used to eat 9kilograms of meat and as much of bread. He drank three pitchers of wine. At Olympia, he carried a four year bull on his shoulders, carried it around the stadium. After this he cut it up and ate it all alone in a single day.

Fortunately we have chocolate for our Olympians today.

OF COURSE HE DOES !

Yes Usain Bolt, the Jamacian Olympic gold medallist, loves clowning, grimacing at television cameras, running the 100 meters with unfastened shoes. He even slowed down during the 100 meter sprint to see if there was anyone close. There wasnt. He won in the best time ever, 9.69secs. He smashed the 200meter record with 19.67.

And yes, he loves chocolate. He likes to chew on chocolate nuggets and sleeping instead of training, reported the People's Daily.

CHOCOLATE IN RUSSIA

Until today I thought Red October was a submarine commanded by Sean Connery. An email from a Russian citizen informed me that it was the largest confectionery and chocolate manufacturer in Russia. It has 15 retail outlets in Moscow alone. I was also reprimanded because I never mentioned Russia as a country of chocolate lovers. I am told that Russia is the third largest confectionery market in Europe and the fourth largest in the world after USA, Germany and the UK.

The average per annum consumption of confectionery products in Russia was 17kg per capita. Confectionery is produced in the region of 2.6million tons per year. A ripping 37% growth since 2000. The market value, according to experts is close to US$4 billion.

In the confectionery market, pastries take 57%, chocolate 25% and the rest goes to candies including chocolate confectionery.

The chocolate is however the most rapidly developing. Volume grown today is estimated at 550,000 tons with a growth of about 2,5% annually and the monetary growth registering 20% annually. This indicates a trend among consumers towards higher quality chocolates.

The top two chocolate manufacturers are Russian. After Red October(wonderful name!)is Babayersky Confectionery OAO. Nestle is number three. There are other international manufacturers like Mars, Kraft andUnited Bakers.

There is a spate of chocolate boutiques opening in Moscow and the other major cities. My friend tells me his favourite is the Guylian, a small cosy chocolatier and cafe. The "Guylian Breakfast' being his favourite. It consists of rolls and fresh baked bread made with Guylian chocolate dough, orange juice and a hot chocolate or choice of other beverages. Tri Piroga(Three Pies) is another interesting patisserie and chocolate boutique.

INDOOR CHOCOLATE?

Interesting trends in Jakarta worth noting! Restaurateurs tell me that more people are staying at home these days. More people are staying home these days, say the Movie people. In my area more people are buying DVDs.

Adding up I wondered if these trends were doing anything to chocolate. A retailer who didn't want to be named said,that in the last three months sales of moulded chocolates had gone up be 12%. Chocolate confectionery multi-packs upped by nearly 5%. So are soft drinks, snacks(modern and local).

The general opinion is that more people are tending to stay home, and enjoy in-home entertainment, rather than go out for "expensive" diversions.

Cross selling, said the retailer, would be an ideal strategy to take advantage of this trend.

Small and home businesses can also cash in on this trend.

SOME DOWNSIDES ELSEWHERE

Prices of chocolate bars and snacks are trending upwards in US and Europe and we fear it may trickle down here in Indonesia. The reasons are the higher prices of nuts, cocoa and fuel of course. Mars and Hersheys have pushed up prices by 12% and 11% respectively. Cadbury in the Pacific Region, closer home, has announced downsizing to refocus on their chocolate business.

INTERESTING TEAM-UP

An interesting team-up has been brought to my attention with an email. A strategy and a concept use able on a small scale or big. This one is very big. It has nothing to do with chocolate but it is interesting for chocoholics to think about.

Unilever, Pepsi-Co and Starbucks have joined forces to produce Ready-To-Drink teas.
Of course I don't mean that chocoholics and chocolatiers should look at team-ups to produce something as mundane as chocolate drinks but something things chocolate that are sparse on our shelves.