NEWS |
15-98: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE , February 13, 1998
More bags of cocoa -- the main ingredient in chocolate -- pass through Brooklyn than any other port in the nation. The heavy bags of cocoa are bound for factories run by Hershey, Nestle, M&M Mars, and a host of other chocolate manufacturers and suppliers to the confectionery industry.
1997 was a record-breaking year. The statistics are enough to make the most dedicated chocolate-lover’s head swim. In 1997, some 3 million bags of cocoa, weighing 160 pounds each, were imported, an increase of 18 percent over the previous year. That’s some 218,000 metric tons -- enough to provide a fistful of chocolate bars for every man, woman and child in New York City this Valentine’s Day.
Brooklyn’s market share of cocoa imports among North Atlantic ports also surged, from 35 percent in 1996 to 47 percent last year.
Today the latest cocoa-laden freighter, the Torm Karonga, will be unloading cocoa from West Africa at Red Hook throughout the day. It is the third cocoa carrier this week to call at the port.
Port Authority Executive Director Robert E. Boyle said, “Cocoa is a real success story for the Port of New York and New Jersey. These record volumes are the result of an unusually cooperative relationship between the key players -- the Port Authority, the New York Shipping Association, the International Longshoremen’s Association, the terminal operators, and the City of New York. We have worked together to capture this business from rival ports.”
Sal Catucci, owner of American Stevedoring, operator of the Red Hook Marine Terminal, said, “Together, labor, management and the public sector targeted this commodity, and now it’s back in the port, putting up some big numbers and producing lots of jobs in Brooklyn. On a typical day, between the warehouse and ship, we’ve got about 150 people just working on cocoa.”
Southeast Asia was the major source of growth in the cocoa import market during the last year, with import tonnage increasing 35 percent. Cocoa imports from Africa, despite falling elsewhere on the East Coast, increased 23 percent in New York and New Jersey. In all, the New York/New Jersey port now handles 53 percent of African cocoa imports and 31 percent of imports from Southeast Asia.
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