Reuters • 14th April 2021

Cocoa trader Olam says new EU law may force it to drop some suppliers

By Maytaal Angel, LONDON, April 14 (Reuters) - Commodity trader Olam said on Wednesday that new European Union legislation aimed at preventing the import of commodities linked to deforestation and human rights abuses might force it to stop using some of its cocoa suppliers.

Reuters • 21st March 2021

Facing public pressure, palm oil firms are going green: study

By Maytaal Angel LONDON (Reuters) - Of the seven commodities sectors driving deforestation, palm oil companies are doing the most to alleviate their environmental impact following years of public pressure, a study by a global environmental disclosure group shows.

Reuters • 19th February 2021

Two pandemics and Brexit leave UK pig sector in peril

By Maytaal Angel, LONDON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - For British pig farmers like Simon Watchorn, the start of 2021 has brought fresh problems after a pandemic-ridden 2020. British pork producers have seen their profits eroded by COVID-19 and an outbreak of deadly African Swine Fever (ASF) in Germany, and are now having also to deal with Brexit red tape that has hammered exports and hurt demand from key buyers such as German sausage makers.

Reuters • 18th January 2021

British meat industry warns of border chaos as delays halt exports

By Maytaal Angel, LONDON (Reuters) - The British meat industry warned on Monday of looming border chaos as post-Brexit customs checks between Britain and the European Union (EU) halt some cross-border meat flows even with volumes sharply reduced.

Reuters • 14th January 2021

Little evidence coffee companies' sustainability efforts have impact: report

By Maytaal Angel LONDON (Reuters) - There is little evidence efforts by the world’s top coffee roasters and traders to prevent human rights and environmental abuses are having any impact, with most farmers operating at a loss and unable to produce sustainably, a major coffee report said on Thursday.

Reuters • 22nd December 2020

Larger crop, lack of rupees curb Iran's record Indian sugar appetite

By Maytaal Angel, Rajendra Jadhav LONDON/MUMBAI (Reuters) - India will be unable to count on Iran, one of its most important sugar customers, for its upcoming export drive as an increase in Iranian production and Tehran’s shortage of rupees limit buying.

Reuters • 1st December 2020

Regulations needed to stem cocoa sector abuses: report

By Maytaal Angel LONDON (Reuters) - Regulations are needed to end poverty, human rights abuses and deforestation in the cocoa sector after two decades of voluntary interventions that have had little to no impact, a major report on cocoa sustainability said on Tuesday.

Reuters • 30th November 2020

Ivory Coast, Ghana cancel cocoa sustainability schemes run by Hershey

By Ange Aboa, Maytaal Angel ABIDJAN/LONDON (Reuters) - Ivory Coast and Ghana are cancelling all cocoa sustainability schemes that U.S.-based Hershey runs in their countries, accusing the chocolatemaker of trying to avoid paying a cocoa premium aimed at combating farmer poverty.

Reuters • 9th November 2020

Brazil swamps ICE coffee exchange, putting squeeze on small producers

By Maytaal Angel, Marcelo Teixeira LONDON/NEW YORK, (Reuters) - Brazil is tightening its grip on the global arabica coffee market as its beans surge into ICE Futures exchange warehouses for the first time, a move that could squeeze small producers out of the market and put pressure on benchmark prices.

Reuters • 19th October 2020

Exclusive: COVID-19, low prices push Peru coffee output down 10%

By Maytaal Angel, Marco Aquino LONDON/LIMA (Reuters) - Coffee output in Peru, the world’s fifth largest arabica coffee exporter, has tumbled 10% this year due to low prices and migrant labour shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the head of the country’s national coffee federation told Reuters.

Reuters • 17th July 2020

Exclusive: Pact to aid poor cocoa farmers in peril as COVID-19 hits demand

By Maytaal Angel, Ange Aboa LONDON/ABIDJAN (Reuters) - The steepest dive in cocoa demand in a decade has thrown into jeopardy a plan by top producers Ivory Coast and Ghana to guarantee some two million farmers a living wage, sources within the countries’ regulators said.

Reuters • 8th April 2020

Indian white sugar exports at near standstill as lockdown bites

By Maytaal Angel, Rajendra Jadhav LONDON/MUMBAI (Reuters) - India’s white sugar shipments have been brought to a near standstill by the coronavirus lockdown, depriving the global market of key supplies after a poor harvest in Asia’s top exporter Thailand.

Reuters • 30th March 2020

Exclusive: U.S. investigates child labor in Ivory Coast cocoa supply chains

By Ange Aboa, Aaron Ross, Maytaal Angel ABIDJAN (Reuters) - U.S. customs authorities have asked cocoa traders to report where and when they encounter child labor in their supply chains in top grower Ivory Coast, three industry sources said, following calls from American lawmakers to ban some imports.

Reuters • 30th March 2020

Coffee importers stockpiling on fears over coronavirus lockdowns

By Marcelo Teixeira, Maytaal Angel, Julia Symmes Cobb NEW YORK/LONDON/BOGOTA (Reuters) - Coffee importers in some of the largest consuming countries are stockpiling, bringing forward orders by up to a month to avoid shortages if supply chains are disrupted by coronavirus lockdowns.

U.S. • 17th December 2019

Chocolate makers hobble Ivory Coast, Ghana cocoa premium with discounts

By Ange Aboa and Maytaal Angel ABIDJAN/LONDON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Ivory Coast and Ghana’s move to combat farmer poverty with a living income premium for their cocoa sales is being undermined by chocolate makers scaling down purchases and negotiating discounts on other parts of the price, sources said.

U.S. • 10th December 2019

Nestle invests $45 million a year in cocoa sustainability

By Maytaal Angel LONDON, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Nestlé (NESN.S) is spending 45 million Swiss francs (£35.17 million) a year on efforts to source cocoa sustainably, the food company said, also citing progress in reducing child labour in its West African supply chain.

U.S. • 15th October 2019

Chocolate makers face ethical branding dilemma

By Ange Aboa and Maytaal Angel ABIDJAN/LONDON (Reuters), Oct 15 - Ivory Coast and Ghana’s threat to possibly halt the cocoa industry’s ethical branding schemes poses a major risk to chocolate makers operating in Western markets where consumer demand for sustainably sourced products is rising.

U.S. • 14th October 2019

ANALYSIS-China's crackdown on sugar smuggling leaves global storage headache

By Maytaal Angel and Hallie Gu LONDON/BEIJING, Oct 14 (Reuters) - A crackdown on sugar smuggling into China has left abundantly supplied markets in elsewhere Asia struggling to absorb excess supplies, causing a wider storage problem for global markets.

U.S. • 13th September 2019

Ivory Coast, Ghana strike first cocoa deals with living income premium

By Maytaal Angel, Ange Aboa and Nigel Hunt LONDON/ABIDJAN, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Ivory Coast and Ghana have agreed initial deals to sell cocoa with a living income premium of $400 a tonne added to the price, in a bid to reform the way global cocoa is priced, industry sources and a government source told Reuters.

U.S. • 10th September 2019

Ivory Coast, Ghana looking to regulate cocoa industry's sustainability schemes: sources

By Ange Aboa and Maytaal Angel ABIDJAN/LONDON (Reuters), Sept 10 - Ivory Coast and Ghana will meet major chocolate makers and grinders in Abidjan on Wednesday to make plans to regulate the industry’s efforts to source cocoa sustainably, multiple trade and government sources told Reuters.