Paris (AFP)

Parades of chocolate dresses or virtuoso demonstrations of starred chefs, the chocolate fair opened Wednesday in Paris under the glitter for the happiness of gourmands, but in a context of exceptional standoff between cocoa producers and intermediaries of the industry .

Sponsored by Dominique Ouattara, the wife of the President of Côte d'Ivoire, the world's leading cocoa producer, the show, which has helped devote a generation of master chocolatiers and pastry chefs, is aimed first at amateurs chocolate and "chocoholics" of all ages.

Showcase of "accessible luxury" since its first edition in Paris in 1995, the show, declined in many other countries since, serves as a link between the greed of Western consumers and small planters, many of whom live below the threshold of poverty of $ 1.20 a day, according to World Bank figures.

"This year, we wanted to highlight the importance of the cocoa producing countries that will all be present, from Côte d'Ivoire to Indonesia to Ghana or South America," he said. to AFP Sylvie Douce, founder and organizer of the show. "The show is more about rejoicing, but inviting Mrs. Ouattara is symbolic, it means that the producing countries want to exist and we want to show their importance."

On Wednesday evening, were rewarded the 20 best producers of the year selected by a professional jury of more than 200 candidates: three Africans, two Malagasy, six Asian, five from Central America and the Caribbean, and four Latin Americans including a Venezuelan, a young Bolivian company that works wild beans and the Colombian National Cocoa Federation each received an "International Cocoa Award" awarded by the show, allied with the CIRAD research center and the NGO Biodiversity International.

The fair opens this year in an exceptional context of confrontation between the first two producers, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, which represent 60% of the world cocoa production, and the world cocoa and industrial chocolate traders, who had tend to keep the added value for them.

In June, these two countries suspended the sale of the 2020/21 crops for several weeks in an attempt to impose on the markets and multinationals a minimum price that is more profitable and less linked to price volatility, which is not below 2,600. dollars a ton.

- "Without them, we die" -

After weeks of pressure, many giants in the sector, including the Swiss groups Barry Callebaut and Nestlé, have agreed to pay a decent income differential (DRD, name given to a farmer support mechanism), following announcements made at a meeting of the World Cocoa Foundation (forum that brings together multinationals) in Berlin last week.

"Despite this increase in the price floor, prices are still too low to have a decent standard of living in Côte d'Ivoire," said Fatah Sadaoui of the NGO SumOfUs, which supports small producers.

In Latin America, where cocoa is generally bought a bit more than in Africa, the West African initiative is viewed with great interest by producers.

"What is happening is very interesting, and is an important moment, because it is an attempt to rebalance power in the global cocoa sector," says Abel Fernandez, a cocoa farmer in the Dominican Republic. leader of a Fair Trade-Max Havelaar fair trade cooperative.

"On average, in West Africa, cocoa producers receive only 60% of the basic export price because states apply a high tax, while in Latin America they receive 80% to 85% of the export price, "said the official to AFP.

"At home, cocoa beans are paid only $ 2,400 a ton," says Ondina Dubon, a plantor who farms one hectare in Honduras, one of the "cradles" of chocolate inherited from the Mayans. As a result, she decided 10 years ago to start manufacturing, and she proudly exhibits her chocola-K tablets for the first time at the Paris Salon.

For his son Alfredo Jarquin, "in France, we have a recognition we do not have in our country". "Without them, the producers, we die," echoes French master chocolatier Stephane Bonnat, whose family has been working with some families of producers in Venezuela or Ecuador for more than 150 years.

© 2019 AFP