There have long been warnings that the world may eventually experience a chocolate shortage due to the growing demand in rising economies like China and India. One place where there has long been a shortage of chocolate is in countries where the majority of the cocoa is grown to meet the world’s growing chocolate demands. Four countries in West Africa—Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon—produce more than 70 percent of the world’s total cocoa. Yet, for many years chocolate was virtually unheard of inside these countries as nearly 99 percent of the cocoa was exported raw to Europe, North America and elsewhere. However, the current economic boom being seen in West Africa has seen a rising demand for luxury goods amongst the suddenly burgeoning middle class, and of all the luxury goods available, chocolate is one of the most easily accessible.
The Rise of West African Chocolatiers
Consumers in major urban areas in Ghana and Ivory Coast have had access to chocolate for many years. However, virtually all of the chocolate sold in stores was extremely low-quality and imported from Europe and elsewhere. Despite the fact that these two nations grow 60 percent of the world’s cocoa, few, if any, companies were producing chocolate in these countries due to a lack of demand. The recent economic boom being seen in the two West African nations has begun to change that, as in the past few years a number of companies have begun catering to the growing market for local artisanal chocolate.
This rise in African chocolatiers has been driven in part by the need to meet the increasing demand for chocolate among the bulging middle class. However, the local chocolate industry has also benefitted from government initiatives designed to make it easier for entrepreneurs to get into the manufacturing business. Declining cocoa prices have hurt both economies, which is why the government is now taking steps to refine and produce more of its own chocolate instead of simply exporting the raw materials.
Chocolate as a Luxury Item?
The growing African middle classes have not been shy about spending and in some ways flaunting their new-found wealth. Branded clothing, cars and jewelry are all seen as status symbols for the new middle and upper classes. In addition to those strong West African economies, South Africa’s rapidly growing middle class has also seen an explosion in the market for luxury goods. However, these status symbols also extend to items like food, including Western snacks and locally-produced chocolate. Already locally-produced Ghanaian, Ivorian and South African chocolate is obtaining great significance as a luxury item, as it is something that many people in these countries could only have dreamed of being able to afford just a few years ago.
In some ways, people are also buying local chocolate in order to use their new-found wealth to support the local economy. Government initiatives have helped by encouraging people to buy more local chocolate, and the fairly low prices have also played a significant role. Although many locally-produced chocolates cost as little as 30 US cents, it is still viewed as a luxury item due to the fact that most Africans had never even tasted chocolate prior to the recent economic boom.The fact that the more African countries are starting to see the benefit of producing their own goods instead of simply exporting their raw materials is no doubt a great thing for the local economies. Moreover, if this trend continues, it is likely that we will hear more and more about the importance of Africa’s middle class in the coming years.