Page 14 - Port of Hamburg Magazine 02.24

H.D. Cotterell has a storage capacity of 60,000 square metres, with a total of 95,000 tonnes of cocoa beans.
PAGE 14
ALL-PURPOSE PORT PORT OF HAMBURG MAGAZINE 2/24
The employees of H.D. Cotterell take samples from every incoming batch and carry out bean cuts and bean counts. This means they slice open the beans and analyse them in the company’s own lab. What is the condition of the beans? Are they free from mould, pests and other contaminants? How much do the in- dividual beans weigh? Are the colour, odour and fla- vour acceptable? The port logisticians always have their eyes on the temperature of the goods, since they warm up as a result of a kind of fermentation process which naturally affects the quality. H.D. Cotterell stores 95,000 tonnes of beans over an area spanning 60,000 square metres. This equates
to the cocoa content of around three billion bars of milk chocolate. The warehouse is turned over twice a year on average.
“Too much movement during storage is not good for the beans, as they break easily,” explains the managing director. Handling with wheel loaders and convey- or belts is relatively rough, he adds, which is why it is important to move the goods as little as possible after- wards. The cacao, which arrives in 60-kilogram gunny sacks, is stacked
on pallets and weighed. The goods are
typically loaded for distribution without sacks,
so these are first opened and the beans are loaded onto the truck loose. However, organic cocoa beans are exclusively handled in sacks, allowing the neces- sary traceability of organic produce. The employees
document everything, save the data and send it to the owner of the goods.
“Cacao is very expensive at the moment,” Fabian notes. The price has increased about six-fold over the last six months, he says. A tonne currently costs be- tween 7,300 and 8,200 euros – depending on where the beans are sourced. The main reason for the price increase are reduced harvest yields. “Generally, a de- cline in import quantities is not good for us, as we want
to keep our employees and machines busy. But thanks to our broad positioning, we can compensate for that quite well,” he adds. Why the quantities have fallen is not entirely clear. Factors men- tioned include weather conditions and chang-
es in the political and economic conditions.
H.D. Cotterell is also currently occupied with the new EU Deforestation Regula- tion, which is planned to enter into force in January 2025 and requires even more
traceability for cocoa. It is intended to re- duce worldwide deforestation as well as promote human rights and the rights of indigenous peoples. However, the practical implementation remains un- clear for the companies affected. H.D. Cotterell is therefore actively working on solutions with associations and contributing its ex- perience in these endeavours. Besides cacao, the regulation also applies to beef, coffee, palm oil, rub- ber, soya and wood, which may in future only be le-
Cocoa beans are the seeds of the cocoa tree. Their outer covering is a thin, brittle shell.
© Nicole de Jong
© Nicole de Jong