Zurich/Switzerland, – In June more than 200 senior business leaders from the cocoa, chocolate and retail industries, as well as influential politicians and key NGO representatives, will meet at CHOCOVISION 2012 to discuss challenges and opportunities in the cocoa supply chain. The first of a bi-annual series of conferences will take place in Davos, Switzerland from June 5 to 7, and will explore new solutions for securing a successful future to chocolate driven by the theme "Balance the Challenge: From cocoa to chocolate – strategy, sustainability and success".
The conference will be opened by Andreas Jacobs, Chairman of Barry Callebaut AG, by Urs Rohner, Chairman of Credit Suisse Group AG, and by Barbara Janom Steiner, President of the Government of the host Canton of Grisons. After this official welcome, Sir Bob Geldof will take the floor and encourage the delegates to work together to face the biggest challenges affecting the sector.
Strategy: Drivers and directions
The first session of the conference, "Strategy: Drivers and directions", will focus on current trends, challenges and opportunities in the cocoa and chocolate industry. Topics will include the development of global consumer markets, the identification of new chocolate consumption markets according to new taste preferences, the impact of demographic changes and health regulations on chocolate consumption, the evolution of supply and demand of staple foods and cocoa, and the role of prices.
Sustainability: Joining forces to close the gap
The second session, called "Sustainability: Joining forces to close the gap", will investigate how to reduce the gap between chocolate demand and cocoa supply, drawing on the lessons learned in other sectors such as the coffee industry. The president of a cocoa farmer cooperative in Ivory Coast will share the perspective of farmers; a panel discussion will compare the different supply chain models applied in origin countries; and the cooperation between industry, NGOs and farmers will be analyzed.
Success: Proven progress
In the third session, "Success: Proven progress", case studies will demonstrate how challenges can be turned into stories of market success. The speakers will share how they managed to keep growing in both developed and emerging chocolate markets as well as how they dealt with health-conscious consumers and other related issues. Innovation will play an important part in this session, as it can be used to address both health concerns and high raw material costs.
CHOCOVISION's speakers list includes a number of illustrious names
In order to tackle these delicate issues, guests such as John Morris, Partner & Sector Head Consumer Markets, KPMG ELLP; Jérôme Barra, VP Innovation & Design at the Flavor Division of Firmenich SA; David Bosshart, CEO Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute; Bharat Puri, SVP Global Chocolate, Kraft Foods; and Joe M. Prendergast, Managing Director Currency Commodity & Alternative Investment Research, Credit Suisse, will share their experiences. A keynote speech by Mamadou Sangafowa Coulibaly, Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, will open the first session of the conference.
A debate involving John Chuang, CEO Petra Foods Limited; Harriet Lamb, Executive Director, Fairtrade Foundation; Mireille Perrin Decorzent, Deputy Team Leader, Market Transformation, WWF International; and Dieter Weisskopf, CFO, Finance & Administration, Procurement and Production, Lindt & Sprüngli; as well as a panel discussion including Anthony Fofie, CEO Ghana Cocoa Board; Lazare Essimi Menye, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Cameroon; and Sona Ebai, World Cocoa Foundation Policy Advisor, will map out different stakeholder interests. Prof. Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, will provide inspiration at the end of the second session.
Case studies presented by Jim Goldman, CEO of Godiva Chocolatier, Inc.; Vinita Bali, CEO of Britannia Industries Ldt.; Barry Parkin, VP Commercial & Sustainability, Mars Global Chocolate; Alexandre Costa, Founder and Chairman of Cacau Show (Brazil); Prof. Claudio Ferri, MD, Full Professor of Internal Medicine, University of L'Aquila (Italy); and J.P. Bilbrey, President & CEO of The Hershey Company, will demonstrate how to make the best out of a challenging situation and ultimately be successful.
CHOCOVISION 2012 – now also on social media
Besides the conference website www.chocovision.ch, CHOCOVISION 2012 is now also present on selected social media channels. Follow CHOCOVISION 2012 on Twitter (@chocovision_org), on flickr (chocovision_org) as well as on YouTube (chocovisionorg). On Twitter, @chocovision_org will share the latest news about the conference. During the conference there will be live tweeting from the different sessions. In addition, the organizer will post regular news updates under www.chocovision.ch/blog and there will be live blogging during the conference.
***
About CHOCOVISION (www.chocovision.ch)
CHOCOVISION is an international bi-annual conference for senior business leaders and key stakeholders in the cocoa, chocolate and retail industry. The goal is to bring key actors in the supply chain from the cocoa bean to the chocolate-containing product together to explore and initiate new approaches and solutions for securing a sustainable, successful chocolate future.
CHOCOVISION is organized by Barry Callebaut, the world's leading manufacturer of high-quality cocoa and chocolate products, and is supported by a number of renowned partners, including Credit Suisse (Premium Partner), Firmenich SA, Bühler, CrystalCo, IOI Loders Croklaan, Nordzucker and others. Knowledge Partner is KPMG.
Source: Barry Callebaut