The European first-quarter cocoa grinding data by the European Cocoa Association (ECA) reveals the amount of grinding fell again, compared to the same quarter in the previous year.  

The decline of 3% from 368,934 tonnes in 2020 to 357,815 tonnes was somewhat more moderate than in Germany. The number of companies reporting their grind data to the ECA decreased to 19 in Q1 2021, as one company no longer reports the volume and two companies have stopped grinding.

The eleven bean-to-bar companies in Germany with production facilities participating in the reporting system processed a total of 91,482.1 tonnes of cocoa in the first quarter of 2021 – a decrease of 8,1%.