Description

Cocoa ( Theobroma cacao L. ) is a native of Amazon region of South America. The bulk of it is produced in the tropical areas of the African continent. There are over 20 species in the genus but the cocoa tree Theobroma cacao is the only one cultivated widely.

Cocoa is the second major non-oil foreign exchange earner in Nigeria after leather. It is produced in fourteen {14} states of the federation namely Ondo,Cross River, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Ogun, Edo, Kogi, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Abia, Kwara, Ebonyi and Rivers with an annual production rate of 400,000 metric tons {MT}

Over 98% of the product is exported and it’s provides means of livelihood and employment to over five million {5,000,000} people.

In the year 2005 alone, export revenue from the sales of cocoa amounted to US $ 136.7 Million with Netherland, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, USA and Japan being the major export destination. Other emerging markets include China and India.

Foraminifera Market Research through this feasibility report seeks to expose the investment opportunity in the local trading of cocoa beans seed to local industries.

Cocoa beans is one of those commodity that the price is regulated and because of the numerous uses of cocoa seed and the high demand for the processed seed, the demand for cocoa seeds far outstrips supply.

This gap and the fact that the ex-Lagos price is usually at 80 pounds less the international price gives an opportunity for interested investors to go into the production of the product or simply trade the commodity.

The return on investment on the trading of cocoa beans seed is estimated between 10%- 15%.