Cover Page

Resources series

Gavin Bridge & Philippe Le Billon, Oil, 2nd edition

Anthony Burke, Uranium

Jennifer Clapp, Food, 2nd edition

Peter Dauvergne & Jane Lister, Timber

Elizabeth R. DeSombre & J. Samuel Barkin, Fish

David Lewis Feldman, Water

Gavin Fridell, Coffee

Derek Hall, Land

Andrew Herod, Labor

Michael Nest, Coltan

Bronwyn Parry and Beth Greenhough, Bioinformation

Ben Richardson, Sugar

Ian Smillie, Diamonds

Adam Sneyd, Cotton

Bill Winders, Grains

Cocoa

KRISTY LEISSLE











polity

Abbreviations

Note: All spellings are true to organizational usage, here and elsewhere in this volume.

ADM Archer Daniels Midland
AGOA African Growth and Opportunity Act (US)
Caistab Caisse de Stabilisation (Ivory Coast)
CATIE Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (Costa Rica)
CBE cocoa butter equivalent
CCC Conseil du Café-Cacao (Ivory Coast)
COCOBOD Ghana Cocoa Board
EPZ export processing zone
EU European Union
FCCI Fine Cacao and Chocolate Institute
FCIA Fine Chocolate Industry Association
FDA Food and Drug Administration (US)
FLO Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International
FOB free on board
FTZ free trade zone
GDP gross domestic product
GH₵ Ghanaian cedis
GNI gross national income
HCP Heirloom Cacao Preservation Fund
ICCO International Cocoa Organization
ICI International Cocoa Initiative
IITA International Institute of Tropical Agriculture
ILO International Labour Office (permanent secretariat of the International Labour Organization)
ILRF International Labor Rights Forum
IMF International Monetary Fund
IPEC International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour
LBC licensed buying company (Ghana)
MT metric tonnes
NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement (Canada, Mexico, US)
PBC Produce Buying Company (Ghana)
PISA Produits des Iles SA (Haiti)
QBCS ICCO Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics
SAP structural adjustment program
USDA United States Department of Agriculture
USITC United States International Trade Commission
WTO World Trade Organization

Acknowledgments

My first thanks go to Louise Knight at Polity for extending the invitation to author Cocoa for the Resources series, and to Louise and Nekane Tanaka Galdos for their teamwork and support from proposal to printed volume. I am indebted to the many colleagues and friends who generously gave of their time and expertise, improving this book in innumerable ways. In Seattle, the constant friendship and bountiful knowledge of Lauren Adler and Bill Fredericks started shaping Cocoa long before I knew I would write it. In San Francisco, John Kehoe, Gary Guittard, and Amy Guittard welcomed me to Guittard Chocolate Company and shared insights from a family that has worked in the industry for five generations. Greg D’Alesandre at Dandelion Chocolate offered philosophical and practical insights into sourcing. I also thank Molly Gore at Dandelion for her expert engagement with my writing over the years. Dr. Carla Martin and Colin Gasko kindly allowed me to observe a Cacao Grader Intensive workshop, and Carla offered further insights into the work of the Fine Cacao and Chocolate Institute in an interview. From Accra, Priscilla Addison and Kimberly Addison at ’57 Chocolate thoughtfully shared their experiences in an email interview. In London, Sophi Tranchell and Charlotte Borger at Divine Chocolate graciously gave interviews and read lengthy portions of the manuscript. I am enormously grateful to Sophi for her unwavering support of my research and writing, starting with my doctoral fieldwork and continuing to this day. Jesse Last at Taza Chocolate, Zohara Mapes Bediz and Laura Sweitzer at TCHO Chocolate, and Hannah Davis and Matt Earlam at Twin & Twin Trading all read portions of the manuscript and gave formative insights into price, quality, and trade justice. I am thankful for thoughtprovoking conversations with Dr. Jean-Marc Anga and Dr. Michele Nardella at the International Cocoa Organization price risk management workshop in Freetown, as well as a stimulating email exchange with Jane Franch at Numi Organic Tea on the politics of certification. My students in the winter 2016 UWB course, History and Globalization, pushed my thinking with their superb work on the geopolitics of coffee, coltan, diamonds, fish, land, oil, sugar, timber, water – and, of course, cocoa. At crucial moments, Mark Christian and Steve DeVries both read chapters with an immediacy and encouragement that elevated this book in every way. I give thanks for their dedication to advancing our knowledge of cocoa and chocolate. As a scholar with access to a seemingly inexhaustible library system, I have enjoyed many moments of revelation by engaging with English language works on cocoa and chocolate. I have also had the privilege of learning through fieldwork. I thank Hormazd Dastur for opening the door to my earliest work in Ghana, and Tony BouDib, who kept it open even as my departure flight from Accra left the runway. No words are sufficient to thank all the farmers, buyers, managers, graders, depot workers, truck drivers, factory staff, and agricultural officers in Hawaii, Malaysia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Sierra Leone who have enlightened and informed me. Among them, I especially thank Percy Yalley for his guidance and mentorship. I was fortunate to complete portions of this manuscript at two writing residencies, and acknowledge Writing Between the Vines, especially founder Marcy Gordon and the staff at Moshin Vineyards, for supporting my time in Sonoma, California, and UW Bothell Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, as well as Miriam Bartha, for supporting a residency at the Helen Riaboff Whiteley Center on San Juan Island, Washington. At the latter, I appreciated the company of my UWB colleagues, and particularly thank Rob Trumbull for introducing me to the transformative concept of writing units. I am indebted to three anonymous peer reviewers, whose expertise and insights improved this book immeasurably; any omissions or errors are mine alone. Cocoa would never have been in my stewardship were it not for a decisive moment of encouragement, many years ago, from Anita Verna Crofts and Ken Peavler. I hope to show them my gratitude with lasting friendship. Though long hours at a desk sometimes made it feel otherwise, I was never truly alone while writing Cocoa. My heart had the constant support of my family of friends, Anita, Ken, Gina, Amy, Memo, Brad, Christopher, Ariella, and Michelle, and of my boundlessly loving family, Denise, Christine, Joe, and Adrienne. Finally, I offer my affectionate gratitude to Gavin, who bore witness to the writing of this book each and every day, always with unconditional love.