PREMIUM COCOA : CAMEROONIAN COCOA TOPS GLOBAL RANKINGS
Cameroon was ranked first in the Africa and Indian Ocean category at the 10th edition of the Cocoa of Excellence Awards, held on 20 February 2026, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on the margins of the Cocoa Trade Fair. According to Trade Minister Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, the award was earned thanks to a cocoa bean sample from the Kyé-Ossi cocoa production and marketing cooperative in the South region.
This competition featured 191 samples from 45 countries. Cameroon's performance this year comes after the bronze medal obtained in the 2023 edition of the same competition, confirming the sector's qualitative progress on the international market.
State officials attribute this accolade to years of efforts to improve production quality. Locally, this has resulted in the establishment of post-harvest processing centers of excellence in production basins, with the aim of producing “zero-defect” cocoa beans. A quality bonus has also been introduced to encourage producers to comply with international standards.
This strategy has enabled Cameroon to be co-opted—along with Ghana—into the exclusive club of “fine cocoa” producers, “previously reserved for South American countries alone,” noted Minister Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana. This decision was taken in June 2023 in Antananarivo, Madagascar, during a meeting of the International Cocoa Organization (ICO) panel of experts.
The gold medal won in Amsterdam is the third international award won by Cameroon's cocoa and coffee industry within two weeks. From 4 to 6 February 2026, at the African Taste of Harvest 2026 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on the sidelines of the annual conference of the African Fine Coffees Association (AFCA), Cameroonian roasters won first place for natural Robusta and third place in the “natural Robusta produced by women” category, according to the National Cocoa and Coffee Board (ONCC).
Source: Cameroon Tribune Summary No. 13554/9753 of 3 March 2026
