{"id":5537,"date":"2026-09-21T09:26:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T07:26:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bohnkaf.de\/?page_id=5537"},"modified":"2026-09-21T10:04:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T08:04:13","slug":"world-of-cocoa-cocoa-harvests-in-central-and-south-america-when-each-origin-becomes-available","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bohnkaf.de\/en\/world-of-cocoa-cocoa-harvests-in-central-and-south-america-when-each-origin-becomes-available\/","title":{"rendered":"World of Cocoa: Cocoa Harvests in Central and South America: When Each Origin Becomes Available"},"content":{"rendered":"
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World of Cocoa:\nCocoa Harvests in Central and South America: When Each Origin Becomes Available<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Two weeks to port, four weeks at sea, and somewhere in between a downpour in Peru that shifts the whole schedule. Anyone sourcing cocoa beans from Central and South America is not working with a fixed date but with a window of time. This applies especially to Peru, which according to the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Trade is the second largest cocoa exporter in Latin America and the sixth largest worldwide, and the origin from which we source most of our beans in the region. Here is an overview of the main origins and the factors that have shaped our sourcing this year.<\/strong><\/p>

The harvest calendar at a glance
<\/span>Cocoa trees produce fruit year round, yet a rough rhythm has become established in each growing country:<\/p>

  • \u2022\tEcuador: main season March to June, with a smaller secondary harvest in December and January<\/li>
  • \u2022\tDominican Republic: main harvest April to July<\/li>
  • \u2022\tCosta Rica and other Central American origins: main harvest October to January, with a second wave in early summer<\/li>
  • \u2022\tPeru: several harvest waves spread across the year, concentrated in the first half<\/li>
  • \u2022\tBrazil: main harvest mostly in the second half of the year, though figures vary considerably between growing regions<\/li>
  • \u2022\tColombia: main harvest April to June, with a smaller secondary harvest October to December<\/li>
  • \u2022\tVenezuela: main harvest mostly between November and January, with sometimes significant regional variation<\/li><\/ul>


    When practice deviates from the calendar
    <\/span>\"In Peru we have seen deviations of around two months over the last two years,\" reports Corinna Schoppe, International Sale at Bohnkaf. The cause was heavy rain and a resulting delay in fruit ripening. For delivery planning that is more than a footnote: anyone who fixes a contract firmly to March, while the beans are not actually ripe until May, ends up with a gap in incoming goods.<\/p>

    The official calendar serves as a first point of reference, while binding scheduling only happens after checking in with our partners on the ground, shortly before a delivery date is confirmed.<\/p>

    From harvest to arrival in Germany
    <\/span>From harvest to arrival in Germany<\/p>

    1. June: the first product samples after harvest reach us<\/li>
    2. plus around two weeks: quality inspection and release, the container leaves port<\/li>
    3. plus around four weeks: ocean freight to Europe<\/li>
    4. August: the first beans arrive in Europe<\/li><\/ol>

      In total, around two months pass between harvest and arrival when everything runs on schedule. Several factors are currently making that harder.<\/p>

      Current factors affecting sourcing<\/span><\/p>

      Heavy rainfall in April and May 2026 in Peru<\/strong> delayed the harvest itself, with knock on effects for the schedule downstream. This observation is in line with assessments from market analysts, who see the current El Ni\u00f1o pattern as likely to bring more rainfall specifically to Ecuador and Peru for this season, while other growing regions are more affected by drought. Peru's exporter association ADEX reported a 45 percent drop in cocoa exports for the first two months of 2026 compared with the same period last year, with falling world market prices playing a role alongside the harvest problems. The association expects a recovery in the second half of the year.<\/p>

      Low water levels in the Panama Canal,<\/strong>driven by El Ni\u00f1o, are currently causing noticeable disruption. Rainfall between May and August 2026 was around a third below the long term average. The canal authority ACP has reduced daily transits as a result, from 36 to 34 since September 3, and to 32 from September 15. In early September around 100 ships were already waiting to pass, and record fees are currently being paid for priority transits without a reservation. This mainly affects goods flows, like our shipments from Peru, that run via the west coast of South America.<\/p>

      Climate, market conditions and logistics are combining here: goods are arriving later than originally planned, and the restrictions on the Panama Canal are currently adding to the delayed harvest and the fluctuating export figures.<\/p>

      Quality differences within a season
      <\/span>Within a single harvest season, aroma and bean quality generally remain fairly stable for the origins we source from. Bigger differences tend to show up between main and secondary harvests rather than within a running season. Processors with high requirements for a consistent profile should therefore ask specifically which harvest a shipment comes from, not just which country and which month.<\/p>

      Three recommendations for planning<\/span><\/p>

      1. Use the harvest calendar as guidance, not as a firm commitment. Deviations of one to two months have not been an exception for Peru in recent years.<\/li>
      2. Build in a time buffer between the planned start of harvest and the goods you need in stock, especially in years with unusual weather or disruption to key transport routes such as the Panama Canal.<\/li>
      3. Where relevant, ask specifically for main or secondary harvest if a consistent flavour profile matters more to you than the earliest possible delivery date.<\/li><\/ol>

        In the end, planning comes down to the interplay of three factors: the general harvest calendar as a starting point, the actual weather conditions in a given season, and the state of key transport routes such as the Panama Canal. Anyone who keeps all three in view will come much closer to reality when scheduling shipments from Central and South America than by relying on the calendar alone.<\/p>

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        Two weeks to port, four weeks at sea, and somewhere in between a downpour in Peru that shifts the whole schedule. Anyone sourcing cocoa beans from Central and South America is not working with a fixed date but with a window of time. This applies especially to Peru, which according to the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Trade is the second largest cocoa exporter in Latin America and the sixth largest worldwide…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5539,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5537","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bohnkaf.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bohnkaf.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bohnkaf.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bohnkaf.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bohnkaf.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5537"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.bohnkaf.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5537\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5543,"href":"https:\/\/www.bohnkaf.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5537\/revisions\/5543"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bohnkaf.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bohnkaf.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}