Cocoa processing in Côte d'Ivoire has stalled in November, with a drop of 6.7% year-on-year to 56 696 metric tons of beans, according to data released Friday by the Group of coffee-cocoa exporters (GEPEX). This contraction occurs in a context of difficult start to the campaign for the local industry.

For the whole of the 2025/26 season, which started in October, the total volume of processed cocoa reached 100,771 tons at the end of the month of November. This figure represents a decrease of 15.9% compared to the same period of the previous campaign, reflecting a sharper slowdown in the first two months of the season.

GEPEX statistics cover the activity of six of largest transformation players present in the country, including include Barry Callebaut, Olam, and Cargill Inc. These groups concentrate a part important of the national industrial capacity and play a key role in the local valorization of beans.

The world's largest cocoa producer, La Côte Ivory has a total processing capacity estimated at around 750 000 tons per year. The country aims to strengthen local transformation in order to capture more added value and to position itself in competition directly with the Netherlands for the position of the world's leading processor.