Ivory Coast’s cocoa sector faces mounting strain as poor bean quality forces Cargill to suspend grinding operations.
IVORY COAST – Cargill has suspended cocoa grinding operations in Ivory Coast due to declining bean quality, signaling escalating disruptions across the global chocolate supply chain.
The U.S.-based commodities giant halted processing at its facilities after encountering beans with unusually high levels of waste material, which reduce yields and risk damaging equipment, according to industry sources. This marks the first suspension of operations by Cargill in decades of activity in the world’s largest cocoa-producing country.
Current beans from Ivory Coast’s mid-crop harvest are showing critically low fat content, elevated acidity, and excessive waste, rendering grinding operations unprofitable. The deterioration in quality coincides with climate-related challenges impacting production throughout West Africa’s cocoa belt.
Industry figures show grinding activity in Ivory Coast declined 31.2 percent year-on-year in July 2025, dropping to 39,301 tons. Season-to-date totals reached 515,055 tons through July, a four percent decline compared to the previous year.
Deliveries to Ivory Coast’s main ports in Abidjan and San Pedro also fell by around 30 percent between April and mid-August, leaving processors with limited inventories until the main crop arrives in October.
Neighboring Ghana faces parallel issues, with output for the 2024-25 season forecast at 530,000 tons, the lowest in over two decades. Factors including swollen shoot disease, black pod fungus, and aging tree stock have constrained the country’s productive capacity.
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The supply crisis has fueled extreme volatility in cocoa futures, which surged to historic highs above US$12,000 per ton before stabilizing between US$8,000 and US$10,000. The elevated prices have created significant cost pressures for global chocolate manufacturers.
The quality shortfalls threaten Ivory Coast’s long-term strategy of becoming not only the world’s top grower but also a leading processor. Multinational firms such as Barry Callebaut and Olam have expanded capacity in the country, but substandard beans now challenge the sustainability of these investments.
Global cocoa production in 2025 is projected to fall short by more than one million metric tons, intensifying supply gaps and market instability.
Cargill had previously invested US$100 million in 2021 to expand its Ivorian processing capacity to 160,000 tons annually.
