"Dubai Multi Commodities" Intended to launch "Cocoa center" To enhance the emirate’s position in the trade of agricultural commodities

DUBAI, April 20, 2017 (WAM) – The Dubai Multi Commodities Center announced its intention to launch the “Cocoa Centre,” a new trade platform that aims to build an integrated system covering cocoa trade, processing, and innovation in its sector, thus enhancing Dubai’s position as a global center for trade in agricultural commodities.

The launch of the center comes within the expansion plan in the agricultural and food commodities sector, benefiting from the cluster model adopted by the center in coffee and tea, as it currently includes 88 companies operating in the cocoa trade and the chocolate and sweets industry. The new center will combine these activities within a unified platform that covers the value chain from supply and processing to distribution and financing.

The project is being implemented in partnership with Kumbi Cocoa and Ribezzi Group, where the group will lead the development work, while the parties will cooperate to study the establishment of an integrated infrastructure for storing, trading and converting cocoa into semi-processed products, in a way that enhances the efficiency of global supply chains.

Ahmed bin Sulayem, the first CEO and executive director of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, said that cocoa trade today is no longer limited to production alone, but rather is linked to how value is built, financed and distributed throughout the various episodes of the supply chain.

He added that through the Cocoa Center of the DMCC, the center is working to establish a platform that responds to the requirements of this new reality. By bringing together producers, traders, manufacturers and capital under the roof of one platform, we create the appropriate environment to achieve more added value near the source of production, while enhancing Dubai’s role as a global destination for trade in agricultural commodities.

He explained that this project represents a natural extension of the cluster model adopted by the Centre, and a new step towards consolidating Dubai’s position at the heart of the movement of food and commodity flows at the global level.

For his part, Kwadwo Boachi-Adjei, founder and CEO of Combi Cocoa, said that Combi Cocoa’s mission since its founding has been to build transparent and fair supply chains that connect farmers directly to global markets. He expressed their pride in being a strategic partner of the Dubai Multi Commodities Center, supporting the development of infrastructure that benefits farmers, and at the same time provides high-quality, traceable cocoa to international markets.

For his part, Mauro Ribisi, founder of the Ribizi Group, said that the global cocoa market is witnessing rapid development, and this initiative embodies a forward-looking approach in developing the infrastructure for commodity trade. By achieving integration between supply, logistics, trading and processing operations between different continents, the Cocoa Center has the potential to become a new reference standard and a platform to stimulate the growth of this sector.

Globally, the value of the cocoa market reached about $16.6 billion in 2025, and it is expected to reach $26.2 billion by 2035, while the luxury chocolate market is expected to grow from $31.9 billion in 2024 to $40.6 billion by 2030.

While Dubai’s role in the cocoa trade is still growing, data indicate that the UAE will import cocoa beans worth $17.3 million and cocoa and chocolate products worth $65.3 million during 2023, compared to exports of raw beans amounting to $16.4 million, which reflects the growing trade flows through the emirate.

The Cocoa Center aims to address structural challenges in the global market, by linking producers directly to markets, sources of financing, and value-added services, taking advantage of Dubai’s capabilities in warehousing, logistics services, and trade finance, in a way that enhances the flexibility and transparency of global cocoa trade.

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