Over 30 cocoa entrepreneurs from Trinidad and Tobago met with buyers from Canada, France, Japan, the UK and the US on October 4, 2019 at the World Cocoa and Chocolate Day (WCCD8) Expo 2019 and Inbound Trade Mission. Some 12 international buyers met with homegrown chocolatiers, and manufacturers and sellers of other cocoa-based products.
Hosted by The UWI Cocoa Research Centre (CRC) and held over two days at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad in Port of Spain, WCCD8 is an annual celebration of cocoa and chocolate. The event was created to “showcase the vast potential the industry holds for local and regional economic diversification,’’ says a statement from CRC..
“We had more than 50 exhibitors this year,” says CRC Director Professor Pathmanathan Umaharan. That included mainly chocolatiers but also exhibitors of soaps, cosmetics, cuisine and others. Over 3,000 people passed through the expo.” Umaharan said the external buyers were very excited about the expo and at the time of this writing many of them were still in Trinidad on tours that include cocoa estates and chocolate factories. “A major part of WCCD8 is to exhibit the chocolatiers that the CRC has trained” and help them find international opportunities, he said. WCCD8 included business to business meetings, mini workshops and even live entertainment. The CRC Director was also very appreciative of the support by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. Trade and Industry Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon and Agriculture, Lands and Fisheries Minister Clarence Rambharat took part in WCCD8 over the two days.
2019 is the first year that WCCD8 was held at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad. In its first six years the expo took place at the JFK Auditorium before growing past its confines and moving to UWI’s Sport and Physical Education Centre (SPEC) in 2018. This year’s expo also included a Chocolate Demo and Sampling with renowned French chef and chocolatier Régis Bouet, a Chocolate Flavours of the World cocoa tour and an Angostura Rum and Chocolate Pairing event.
“We really could not have achieved this without the support of our sponsors,” says Umaharan, citing funding from an International Development Fund- Multilateral Investment Fund (IDB-MIF) project, the Cocoa Development Company of Trinidad and Tobago, National Flour Mills, the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute, Export Import Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, the Agricultural Development Bank, and Memory Bank. The CRC Director also praised his team: “They did an excellent job. Staff always pulls through. They are a well- oiled machine.” Created by the International Cocoa Organisation and the Académie Française du Chocolat et de la Confiserie, World Cocoa and Chocolate Day is commemorated on the 1st of October.
