Mexico imported 119 million dollars in cocoa during 2023

Mexico produced around 28,493 tons of cocoa beans during 2023, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER).

Domestic consumption

However, this cocoa production It was not enough to cover domestic demand, which is why Mexico needed another large amount of this input. The country required the import of 24,720 tons of cocoa during 2023, which was reflected in figures of 115 million dollars in international purchases of cocoa beans, whole or broken, raw or roasted, according to data from the Ministry of Federal Economy, a figure that due to the global situation of this input could increase in 2024.

Current crisis

Although Mexico is recognized for the quality of its cocoathe reality is that its production is much lower than other countries such as Ivory Coast and Ghana, placing it in 13th position worldwide in 2022, a figure stated by the Undersecretary of Food Self-Sufficiency, Víctor Suárez Carrera.

Production

The current production of cocoa worldwide is in crisis, because while the price has increased, its production has decreased due to climatic issues of the main producers; Ivory Coast and Ghana, which maintain two thirds of world production, which has caused the price to hover around more than 7,500 dollars per ton, when a year ago it was around 3,000 dollars.

In this panorama, Mexico could be affected in its consumption and the costs that it implies, since a study carried out by the National Council of Cocoa Producers (CNPC) in 2022 estimated that the per capita consumption of cocoa in Mexico was 0.5 kilograms per year, while another study by Statista revealed that the per capita consumption of chocolate in Mexico was 5.9 kg during 2023, going up.

Affectation in Sinaloa

Although Sinaloa is not a state that has official cocoa production, it does have chocolate productionas well as around 1,161 bakeries and confectioneries according to figures from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi), which could be affected by the increase in this base input for said line of business, since it is expected that both cocoa as chocolate suffers an increase due to the current global situation.

Taking into account the per capita consumption of 0.5 kg of cocoa, it is estimated that state consumption could reach around 1.55 million kilograms annually, with around 3.1 million inhabitants in Sinaloa to the year 2023.