Cocoa in one minute
Cocoa grows near the equator. Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana alone grow about 60% of the world's beans.
Traders buy the beans at origin, ship them, store them in warehouses in Europe or the US, and sell them to grinders who make cocoa butter, powder and chocolate.
Between the farm and the factory, one lot changes hands, currencies and warehouses several times. Every step is a document, a weight and a price.
How a cocoa price is made
There are two cocoa futures markets. London, in pounds sterling per tonne. New York, in US dollars per tonne. Both trade lots of 10 tonnes.
A physical contract rarely says a fixed number. It says: the futures price, plus or minus a differential. The differential pays for the origin, the quality and the shipment date.
Example
Say London futures are at £4,000 per tonne.
You agree a differential of +£100.
Your price: £4,100 per tonne. For 100 tonnes: £410,000.
If the futures move before you fix the price, your price moves with them. Only the +£100 stays.
Four traps that cost real money
1. Two markets, two currencies. A contract on London is in pounds. A contract on New York is in dollars. Add them up without the exchange rate and your position is wrong, quietly.
2. Quality is measured after shipping. The cut test opens 300 beans and counts the mouldy and slaty ones. The bean count says how many beans it takes to make 100 grams. A bad result means a discount, or a refused lot.
3. A bag is not a tonne. Ghana prices cocoa per 64 kg gross bag. Gross includes the jute sack. The contract weight, the bag weight and the landed weight are three different numbers.
4. EUDR is coming. From 30 December 2026, cocoa sold in the EU must come with the location of every farm, and proof it was not deforested after 2020.
What Apollo does for a cocoa desk
- Each contract keeps its own exchange, currency and differential. The position shows London and New York side by side, never mixed. How the position stays live.
- Stock is tracked lot by lot, warehouse by warehouse. Warehouse reports are read when they arrive. Stock is not a total. It is lots.
- Supplier invoices are checked against the contract, the bill of lading and the weights before you pay. Every invoice arrives already checked.
- Farm plots are imported, screened for deforestation and attached to each shipment. Check your EUDR plot file for free.
Frequently asked questions
Is cocoa priced in pounds or in dollars?
Both. London cocoa futures are in pounds sterling per tonne, New York cocoa futures in US dollars per tonne. A physical contract says which one it follows.
What is a cocoa differential?
The amount added to or taken from the futures price to get the physical price. It reflects origin, quality and shipment period. Example: futures at £4,000 plus a £100 differential gives £4,100 per tonne.
What is the cut test?
A quality test: 300 beans are cut lengthwise and the defective ones (mouldy, slaty, insect damaged, germinated, flat) are counted and given as a percentage.
Does EUDR apply to cocoa?
Yes. Cocoa is one of the seven commodities covered. Large and medium companies apply it from 30 December 2026, small and micro ones from 30 June 2027.
Sources
- ICE: London Cocoa futures (pounds per tonne, 10 tonnes)
- ICE: Cocoa futures, New York (dollars per tonne, 10 tonnes)
- Federation of Cocoa Commerce: cocoa bean rules (cut test, bean count)
- Oxford Business Group: Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana in world cocoa supply
- COCOBOD: producer prices per 64 kg gross bag
- European Commission: EUDR delayed to December 2026
Facts checked on 29 October 2026. Prices in the examples are illustrations, not market quotes.