Fine cocoa confab for Jamaica this month
THE second annual Caribbean Fine Cocoa Conference and Chocolate Expo will be held in Montego, St James, later this month.
The September 15-16 event will be held under the theme ‘Investing in Fine Cocoa and its Value Chain’ in Montego Bay, St James.
Project manager of the Caribbean Fine Cocoa Forum (CFCF), Vernon Barrett, said the conference thesis is in keeping with topical trends in cocoa sweeping the globe, including the Caribbean.
Jamaica’s Minister of Agriculture Robert Montague and his Trinidadian counterpart Vasant Bharath will address the conference.
Barrett said that several papers and presentations from representatives of six Caribbean countries will be delivered at the conference that will attract more than 150 delegates from several countries including Jamaica, Belize, Costa Rica, Grenada, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.
“The rehabilitation of cocoa estates, adding value to the cocoa sector and premium quality export compliance are some topics of importance that will be highlighted at the two-day conference,” he explained.
CFCF project director, Professor Denise Thompson, said the conference is being held at a time when “there are many exciting changes occurring in the fine cocoa sector globally.
“It is important that we take a proactive lead in understanding and responding to them, because they provide cocoa producing countries with commercial opportunities to capitalise on, to the benefit of both the agricultural and industrial sectors.”
Barrett said the CFCF Forum was established to bring researchers, producers, traders, processors and other players in the Caribbean Fine Cocoa sector together.
He said a major objective is to guarantee that research, development and innovation activities are aligned with the needs of regional cocoa producers and processors.
The CFCF Forum, now in its second year, was initiated as a European Union funded project under the African, Caribbean and Pacific Science and Technology Programme in 2009.