Malaysian cocoa production to reach 60,000 tonnes

TANAH MERAH: The Malaysian Cocoa Board is optimistic cocoa production in the country will reach approximately 60,000 tonnes by 2020.

A board member, Datuk Hilmi Yusoff, said Malaysia produced about 3,400 tonnes of cocoa which was not sufficient to meet domestic demand.

“There are cocoa-based product manufacturers who are sourcing dry cocoa beans from Indonesia to meet their demand,” he told reporters after opening a course on cocoa cultivation and production here yesterday.

Hilmi said the industry had vast potential to develop further and that farmers could derive high returns from the cultivation of the commodity. — Bernama