Rising costs of cocao putting pressure on Aus. businesses

Cocao prices are rising globally and small chocolate makers back home are feeling the pinch.

Transcript

00:00 From melting pots of luxury chocolate, this boutique enterprise has been creating delectable

00:08 treats for 25 years, many with a distinctly Melbourne flavour.

00:15 But the skyrocketing price of cocoa is putting the squeeze on small operators like Drew Madison.

00:21 A lot of the businesses out there are just struggling.

00:26 They're looking at closing up or selling off.

00:29 Last year, his business lost a quarter of its revenue and had to cut his staffing by

00:34 half.

00:35 What are we going to leave for our kids?

00:37 Where is the industry going in Australia?

00:39 The price of cocoa almost tripled in the past year, mainly because of deforestation, wet

00:45 weather and crop disease in West Africa, where more than 70% of the world's product is grown.

00:52 Some of the smaller boutique or high quality chocolate makers tend to have a higher cocoa

00:59 content in their chocolate.

01:01 It gives them a kind of a double whammy then.

01:04 Small chocolate making businesses like Drew's rely almost entirely on cocoa from overseas,

01:09 but Australian local cocoa growers could offer a glimmer of hope.

01:15 Lawrence Marmara is one such farmer who's been growing cocoa near Cairns for more than

01:20 a decade.

01:21 This is a very good region for growing cocoa.

01:24 There's no two ways about it.

01:26 Certainly there's an opportunity for the cocoa growers here in Australia, in North Queensland,

01:32 to get their backsides moving.

01:35 Growers say if more local farmers make cocoa, it could eventually push down prices and strengthen

01:41 the domestic market.

01:43 In a strange and roundabout way, it is actually good news for Australian cocoa growers.

01:50 But as it's still a tiny industry and crops can only grow in specific environments, there's

01:57 a long way to go before the beans will be bought on a larger scale.

02:01 To see more cocoa grown in Australia would be fantastic.

02:06 No sweet relief yet for small businesses.

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