Considered among the best quality cocoas in the world and awarded the superior taste award by the International Taste Institute in 2020, Venezuelan cocoa will now be exported to Russia.
The announcement that the commercial relations between Venezuela and Russia will continue to increase, in a process where sanctions are imposed on Russia due to the Ukraine crisis, caused the reaction of the opponents of the war and the opponents in the country.
The Venezuelan-Russian Chamber of Economic Cooperation (Caverus), headquartered in Caracas, announced that 43 tons of cocoa will be exported from Venezuela to Russia. Caverus states that cocoa exports are the result of bilateral agreements and commercial rapprochement between the two countries. Although Russia or Venezuela has not made a comprehensive statement on the subject, experts from VOA Turkish say that the 43-ton cocoa bean export is the first official cocoa export to Russia and this amount is for trial purposes.
“90 thousand tons of cocoa export to Russia is planned this year”
Gregorio Campos, Cocoa Producers Coordinator of FCBV, one of the farmers’ federations in Venezuela, said that 43 tons of cocoa to be sent to Russia is quite a small amount, and that the aim is to test the condition of the cocoa after transportation, which will be exposed to factors such as moisture, salt and sun as it will be transported by sea for weeks. draws attention.
Speaking to VOA Turkish, Campos says that Russia has taken initiatives to buy 90,000 tons of cocoa beans from Venezuela this year to process it in its country and use it in chocolate production by mixing it with cocoa from other countries.
75 percent of cocoa is exported
Leudys Gonzalez, the director of ExpoCacao Venezuela, says that although it was the first in the world’s cocoa export until the 18th century, cocoa production has decreased to 15-20 thousand tons today, and that 75 percent of the cocoa produced is exported abroad.
Gonzalez, who is known as the cocoa ambassador of the country and reached by VOA Turkish, says that the weight of cocoa in Venezuela varies between about $ 2.5 and $ 15, and the retail price of Venezuelan cocoa can reach up to $ 80-90 abroad.
In Venezuela, where cocoa is one of the country’s major export items, 1 October is celebrated as the National Cocoa Day every year.