Brazil: Cocoa producers in Southern Bahian celebrate rising prices and try to resume large-scale production

Along the BR-101, a coastal highway that cuts across the country from north to south, cocoa farms are popping up on both sides of the road in the southern region of Bahia. On some properties, workers are working on improvements to the headquarters and warehouses, as well as installing new barges and fermentation houses. The construction work and new machinery reflect the enthusiasm of cocoa farmers, who are experiencing a new spring after the long winter of the witch's broom plague, which decimated crops and ruined the entire region 35 years ago. The price of cocoa reached historic levels in 2024. In December, futures contracts broke the barrier of US$ 12,000 (around R$ 74,000) per ton on the New York Stock Exchange. In Bahia, the arroba (15 kilos) of the bean is quoted at R$850. Prices have risen amid reduced production in the Ivory Coast and Ghana, the world's leading producers, which are facing adverse weather conditions, pests and a lack of renewal of the planted area. The ...