Felenbok Advisory

We are very glad to introduce you to Raphaël Felenbok, our #strategic #advisor and #cocoa topic lead. Raphaël has been supporting us since the beginning more than 2 years ago. He helped us shape and promote our value propositions to agri-commodity players and played a critical role in our 2023 fundraising. Alongside his role with us, Raphaël works with top clients such as management consultant Bain & Company; private equity aDryada/Ardian; and confectioner Mars Wrigley. Prior to that, he spent 10 years along the cocoa & chocolate value chain with Barry Callebaut Group. First, as their Head of Cocoa Market Research (2010-2015) extensively traveling in the origins and thus being exposed to the realities and complexities of the ground. Then, as the Swiss Managing Director (2016-2019) selling chocolate to FMCGs as well as in Food Service channels. He is an AgriFood Engineer by training and has an MBA from INSEAD. Welcome to the team Raphaël Felenbok. We are delighted to learn from your extensive experience. For more info, he has his own webpage 👉  https://lnkd.in/dQvipke5 and, if you’re interested in a chat with him, don’t hesitate to let us know!

"95% of cocoa growing remains stuck in a 'low input/low output' system [...] is the current cocoa 'breakdown' an opportunity for the industry to 'breakthrough'?" Feel free to reach out if you're interested in exploring the many ways to innovate along the #cocoa & #chocolate value chain - from large-scale farming upstream to cocoa-free chocolate downstream! 🍫💥 ♻

Following a further 25% increase over the last 5 days, the #cocoa market traded earlier today above the 10’000 USD/mt mark (May 24 futures contract, ICE New York)... this is no early #AprilFools joke! Feel free to reach out if you want to discuss industry implications 🚨🍫 Bloomberg - https://lnkd.in/d3H5YjJQ Financial Times - https://lnkd.in/dRG-ZAw8

#cocoa prices hit new records for a 9th consecutive day on Friday: GBP 4'786 - the posted high on February 24th, ICE London futures, 2nd position (May 2024). Combined arrivals in #IvoryCoast and #Ghana (around 60% of the worldwide crop) are down by more than 30% year-on-year. There seems to be a mix of ad hoc/short-term issues (heavy black pod fungal spread due to this year's rainfalls as well as smuggling to neighboring Guinea, Liberia, and Togo in light of much higher/unfixed farmgate prices) combined with more structural/long-term issues (swollen shoot virus spread, aging tree stock with no large-scale access to fertilizers and banned high-yielding material, competing activities such as gold mining, and higher temperatures due to #climatechange). These #supply issues are meeting a rather resilient #demand (so far!) and are leading to a 3rd #deficit in a row (and a stock-to-grind ratio consequently diving below the 30% threshold). 🚨🍫 Image: Ecakoog, Ivory Coast, Fairtrade International

Following a great time last year at the World Economic Forum, I’ll be back in #Davos next week, on Wednesday 17/01. I’ll mostly be under the SDG Tent (public area, no security badge required) with certainly engaging sessions about: • #biodiversity credits (https://lnkd.in/e_pNKhkw for a lively panel with Conservation International, International Advisory Panel on Biodiversity Credits, and Land Life) • sustainable tropical #supplychains (https://lnkd.in/ehy_QHQG for a deep dive in the #shea #sourcing operations of AAK in #Ghana) Looking forward to some "InTentful" discussions! Feel free to PM me if you are around and would like to meet 🗓💡🌍♻️ #WEF24