Brazil Cocoa Origin Focus Blog Part 2: Return of the Cocoa!
- Diego Miranda
- May 8
- 7 min read
Introduction
Brazil holds a special place in the history of cocoa production and trade. From a global powerhouse to a mid-sized producer, the country’s journey has been one marked by many highs and lows. A cocoa industry that was once a model of success, money and power created jealousies that may have sparked an incredible act of bioterrorism. Despite the downfall of cocoa in Brazil, there is speculation among serious analysts that it may rise again to become a key player in global cocoa production.
In this second part of the Brazil Origin Focus blog, we will explore the dramatic downfall of Brazil as a cocoa producer, where we stand today, and what the future holds for this wildcard of cocoa production.
Downfall: The Witches’ Broom Disaster
The booming cocoa sector in Bahia came to an abrupt collapse due to a devastating fungal disease in 1989. Witches’ Broom disease (caused by the fungus Moniliophthora perniciosa) suddenly appeared in Bahia’s plantations.
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This plague, which deforms pods and halts bean development, was previously confined to the Amazon region and had never been seen in any of the states separating Bahia from the deep countryside.
Its arrival was so sudden and widespread that a later police investigation concluded it was likely introduced deliberately as an act of bioterrorism. Despite its wealth, or maybe because of it, the region of Ilhéus was seen as a focus of political dispute, both for popular vote and for the influence of the cocoa elites, who were believed to be the target of the attack.
Soon after its arrival, the impact of Witches’ Broom was catastrophic. Within a few years, Brazil’s production plummeted by more than half. From ~430,000 tons in the early ’80s, output fell below 200,000 tons by the late ’90s and would eventually bottom out around ~100–150k tons/year.
Farms in Bahia were devastated – many went bankrupt or were abandoned as the fungus wiped out pod yields. The once-rich cocoa towns of Bahia experienced economic ruin; unemployment and rural exodus surged. Brazil, which had been a major cocoa exporter, became a net importer by the mid-1990s to keep its local grinders running. Given all this, it is no surprise that the 1990s are remembered as a dark decade for Brazilian cocoa.
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Government and Industry Response
To fight the Witches’ Broom destruction, emergency programs were launched. CEPLAC and researchers mobilized to develop disease-resistant cocoa varieties and rehabilitate farms.
By the early 2000s, new clonal seedlings (such as resistant hybrids like CCN-51 and local selections) were distributed to farmers, and training in phytosanitary practices was intensified. The “Cabruca” agroforestry system in Bahia – where cocoa grows under forest shade – actually helped somewhat, as the shaded environment and biodiversity could suppress pests naturally.
But many Bahia farms still needed replanting with resistant stock. Although the government offered debt relief and replanting credit through subsidized programs like PRONAF, it was not nearly enough to compensate for all the damage caused by the disease. Many estates, especially the larger ones, never recovered and were parceled out or repurposed.
The chaos in Bahia did not mean that the whole country had come to a halt, though. While plantations were ravaged on the coast, cocoa farming expanded quietly in the Amazon. In the 1970s and ’80s, the government had encouraged settlers along the Trans-Amazonian Highway to plant cocoa in Pará and Rondônia as a cash crop. These Amazon farms already had Witches’ Broom (since the pathogen is endemic there), but farmers learned to manage it with tolerant clones.
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By the late 1990s, states like Pará were still increasing production even as Bahia collapsed. This set the stage for a shift: the Amazon region began to take on a larger role in Brazil’s cocoa sector in the 2000s.
Infrastructure and Market Challenges
As time passed, Brazil started to deal with the fact that its cocoa sector would never be the same. Through the 2000s, Brazil faced additional hurdles, especially regarding infrastructure in the new frontier regions.
In Pará, most cocoa is grown along the Trans-Amazonian highway, but this road was only partially paved, which meant that heavy rains could make transport difficult. Getting beans from remote Amazon farms to the processing industries (mostly located in Bahia or the Brazilian southeast) involved long supply lines.
Indeed, much of Pará’s bean output is shipped by road or coastal freighter to Bahia for grinding or export via Ilhéus, which remained an important exporter despite the fall in production. All these added extra costs and complexity, considerably reducing farmers’ margins.
Additionally, during the low-output years, Brazil had to import beans (mostly from West Africa) to supply local grinders. For an industry that was not used to buying from the outside, managing trade and quality differences was a challenging prospect. Domestic cocoa prices often diverged from international prices due to import costs and local supply tightness. Some farmers also struggled with aging tree stock, low yields and limited access to finance for renovation.
The Tide Turns for Cocoa
Hard though it was, the Brazilian cocoa sector adapted.
Pará received heavy investments in infrastructure, both in grinding and storage as well as in improving its highway system, which remains the main form of bean transport from the state.
The farming itself also professionalized further. Be it in Bahia or in the Northern states, farms developed practices to deal with Witches’ Broom and other diseases. They adopted pruning practices, adequate shading, balanced fertilization, biological control, among other tools that allowed productivity to grow once more.
By the 2010s, after two decades of decline, Brazilian cocoa showed signs of recovery.
Investment in replanting and R&D also started to bear fruit. Bahia’s farmers, with new clones and better agronomy, began to slowly increase yields. More dramatically, Pará’s cocoa frontier boomed: thousands of small farmers in the state planted cocoa under agroforestry, achieving yields 2–3 times higher than Bahia’s average. National production climbed from its nadir (~150k tons) to over 200k tons by the mid-2010s.
Current Days
As it stands, it can be said that Brazil’s cocoa sector has left the worst days behind. Although total production has not yet recovered to its former glory, the country found a path through all the challenges, reclaiming its place on the global cocoa stage.
Not all was rosy, of course. In 2015–2016 a severe drought in Bahia temporarily hurt output again (Bahia’s production fell from 153k tons in 2015 to just 83.9k tons in 2017). This last hit allowed Pará to definitively take its place as Brazil’s top cocoa-producing state, surpassing Bahia in 2017.
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Such developments cemented Brazil’s current landscape. Pará now has the largest crop while Bahia remains a close second. Together, both states contribute to over 95% of Brazil’s output.
Total production, in turn, finds itself in an uptrend. The last five years have shown an average crop of 253 MMT, and the value is only expected to grow as time progresses. To achieve this goal, Brazilian farmers and institutions are working to improve average yields and diminish the remaining regional inequalities.
Current yields average between 500 to 600 kg/ha, with Pará generally outperforming Bahia. To change this context, both public and private initiatives aim to educate farmers on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), including effective pruning, composting, and fermentation techniques. Estimates suggest that these programs could potentially raise yields above 1,000 kg/ha.
Such efforts are already giving results, developing the cocoa landscape in regions that were previously unutilized, such as the West of Bahia, a region commonly known for its soy and cotton culture. The contact of cocoa with the commodities Brazil is most famous for allows bean farmers to learn the best practices for planting, growing and harvesting, among other essential aspects of the trade.
With professional agricultural methods, something that is extremely lacking in cocoa farming, both in Brazil and the entire world, farmers can achieve superior yields and grow their trees much faster than previously thought possible.
Professionalization is much welcome, since many threats still lurk. While farmers have managed to control Witches’ Broom through resistant cocoa varieties and meticulous pruning methods, new diseases continue to appear, such as Frosty Pod Rot (Moniliophthora roreri), a fungal disease present in nearby countries but not yet reported in Brazil. Preventing its entry is critical, as an outbreak could cause devastating effects akin to the Witches’ Broom epidemic.
Besides production, Brazil also became an important player on the demand side. The country boasts a robust grinding sector, primarily located in Bahia, with some capacity also in São Paulo and the Southern states.
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Nearly 97% of the country's cocoa beans are processed domestically. This high internal demand creates a stable market for local farmers, who supply cocoa liquor, butter, and powder to domestic chocolate manufacturers and exporters, reducing costs and diminishing the impact of global volatility.
Conclusion
For commodity traders, Brazil’s cocoa should be watched as a wildcard that can shift the tide of S&D into surplus or deficit.
This origin has a history of rapid rises and falls in cocoa production. From being the world’s No. 2 producer and then nearly collapsing, it is now reinventing itself through better practices and yield-driven growth. The redemption tale leads the market to be generally optimistic toward Brazil’s future, with many analysts estimating that the crop could rise to 350 MMT in 2030.
Even if it is no longer the number two producer of cocoa, this South American nation is still set to remain a mid-size origin with increasing relevance. Not only that, but its current professionalizing efforts have turned the country into a standard for global farming best practices, as well as high quality, specialty cocoa.
Through it all, though, Brazil’s cocoa journey is the story of the phoenix. A blaze of cocoa production reduced to ashes in one malicious act. The volatility in the cocoa market over the last few years has shown how the over reliance on West Africa as a cocoa producing region leaves the market vulnerable to supply disruption.
However, the story of the phoenix is also a story of rebirth. The Brazilian cocoa industry is being reborn into a new leader in the resurgence of South America as a major player in cocoa production. As Brazil and its neighbors increase their production and their resilience it will add a new layer of resilience to the global cocoa supply.
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