According to the Malaysian Cocoa Board, Malaysia’s cocoa production of 100,000 tonnes per year is insufficient to fulfill the cocoa industry’s demand of 350,000 tonnes per year, resulting in the country importing the commodity to fulfill domestic demand.
Director general Dr Ramle Kasin said that he hoped that cocoa operators throughout the country would seek a solution to overcome the issue.
“I hope cocoa smallholders all over the country unite to increase the production of quality cocoa beans,” he said cocoa producers in neighbouring countries are also experiencing the same lack of cocoa bean production problem.
Ramle said the government is working on ways to overcome the problem by increasing the upstream activities of the cocoa industry, especially the cultivation and plantation of cocoa in this country. He said MCB would apply to state governments across the country to allocate land to increase the cultivation of quality cocoa. We are also encouraging smallholders to plant cocoa on their farms, alongside other crops to increase their income,” he added.
The global cocoa demand in 2019 was estimated at US$12 billion and is expected to reach US$15 billion by 2027 with a CAGR of 4.3%.
Based on the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities website, the cocoa industry contributed RM1.64 billion to the GDP in 2020. In the first half of 2021, the cocoa industry contributed RM0.85 billion to GDP. The plantation area in 2021 was 5,955 hectares with a production of 361 tons. Malaysia is one of the largest cocoa bean processing and grinding center, ranked sixth in the world with a cocoa bean grinding target of 335,000 tonnes in 2021.
