Summary: Vesper has expanded its oils & fats coverage with a new weekly Vesper Price Index (VPI) benchmark for Crude Shea Butter (FOB Tema) from Ghana. This proprietary benchmark, exclusive to Vesper, provides a reliable, independent price reference for an increasingly strategic commodity in food manufacturing.

What's New:

• Weekly VPI price benchmark for Crude Shea Butter

• FOB Tema delivery basis from Ghana—the world's largest shea butter exporting country

• Full integration with existing oils & fats dashboards and pricing tools

Why It Matters: As cocoa prices continue to surge, we've seen increased demand from our user base for alternatives like Shea Butter, which has emerged as a critical cost-effective substitute for cocoa butter. This exclusive VPI benchmark responds directly to user feedback, delivering essential price transparency for those seeking different compositions to limit the effects of cocoa volatility on end product applications. Having Vesper's independent benchmark helps verify supplier pricing and supports more confident negotiations during this period of volatility in cocoa markets.

How to Use It:

1. Find the new Shea Butter (Crude) benchmark in the pricing widgets section

2. Add it to the price comparison widget for side-by-side analysis with cocoa butter prices

3. Incorporate this benchmark into your custom cost models to evaluate how chocolate formulation costs change when substituting with shea butter

4. Monitor weekly updates to identify emerging trends and optimize buying decisions

Related Features: This benchmark complements Vesper's existing offerings:

• Cocoa butter price benchmarks

• Vegetable oil price benchmarks

• Cost modeling for ingredient substitution analysis

Whats New? Vesper is extending our AI-powered forecasting horizon from 6 to 12 months for select dairy, sugar, and oils commodities with established price histories (5+ years of data). This extended visibility enables procurement teams to move beyond tactical buying decisions to support annual budgeting and strategic planning.

Why it matters? Together with expert human analyst outlooks and comprehensive coverage of S&D/Fundamentals, the forecast powered by AI technology gives a comprehensive outlook on future market movements. The extended 12-month horizon allows users to incorporate forecasting into their decision making on more strategic timeframes.

As always, forecasting accuracy is transparently available on the platform for each individual product, allowing users to assess performance and incorporate it into decision-making.

How to Use It:

1. Access the forecast widgets directly on your custom dashboards (add through the search tool if needed)

2. If a product has a 12-Month forecast horizon, it will automatically be visible on your screen

3. Check forecast performance by choosing the 12-Month option in the accuracy dropdown

More products will be added to the extended range in the course of Q2

Related Features: This extended forecasting complements our existing forward-looking toolkit:

• Forward pricing up to 16 months ahead in the Forward Pricing widgets

• Expert analyst outlooks for both short and long-term market perspectives

• Fundamental market drivers dashboard for tracking supply and demand trends

These combined tools give procurement teams unprecedented visibility into future market movements for more confident strategic planning.

Launching supplementary bi-weekly cocoa highlights from Vesper's in-house analytical team, complementing the regular market commentary from independent expert Martijn Bron. These additional reports focus on technical analysis, derivative pricing, and weather insights to support decision-making during unprecedented market volatility.

Why it Matters: With cocoa prices at historic highs, procurement teams need comprehensive market coverage. Our in-house analytical team now provides targeted analysis on alternate weeks to Martijn Bron's expert commentary, combining deep technical analysis with veteran market insights during this volatile period.

What's New:

• Bi-weekly analysis from Vesper's analytical team focusing on:

  • Technical market indicators

  • Derivative pricing trends

  • Weather impact assessment

  • Supply chain disruptions

• Cocoa coverage schedule:

  • Martijn Bron's expert market commentary

  • Alternating with Vesper's analytical team reports

  • CRA Cocoa weather reports published frequently

How to Use It:

1. Access Cocoa Highlights in the Market Analysis section on Vesper or the mobile app

2. Set up notifications to be alerted of any new releases

Expanded sugar price coverage with new country-specific Vesper Price Indices for Germany, Netherlands, Poland, and Spain, complementing our regional EU benchmarks. All benchmarks are updated weekly and remain DAP (Delivered at Place) derived from actual market participants aiding price discovery.

Why it Matters: National sugar markets have distinct dynamics driven by local production, trade flows, and supply-demand factors. While regional benchmarks provide essential context, country-level visibility enables more precise procurement strategies, especially in deficit markets like Spain that rely heavily on imports.

What's New:

• Weekly white sugar benchmarks (ICUMSA 45) for:

  • Germany

  • Netherlands

  • Poland

  • Spain

• Delivery basis: DAP (Delivered at Place)

• Weekly updates every Wednesday

How to Use It:

1. Access Sugar benchmarks in the Prices widgets by searching for ‘white sugar‘

NewNuts & SeedsProduction Data

Summary: Monthly production data from IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) for cashews and peanuts, providing official Brazilian production volumes and trends.

What's New:

• Monthly cashew production data (in shell)

• Monthly peanut production volumes (combined 1st and 2nd harvests)

• Data presented in metric tons

• Direct integration with IBGE statistics

• Monthly update frequency

Why It Matters: Brazil's position as a major nuts producer means their production volumes directly impact global supply and prices. This data helps you anticipate market movements and optimize procurement timing based on production cycles.

How to Use It:

1. Access the Production widgets in your dashboard

2. Use the search function to find "cashew" or "peanut" data

3. Select Brazilian production data from the results

Related Features: This release complements our recent expansion of nuts and seeds price data, where we've added more historical data points across all pricing widgets to give you a deeper view of long-term market trends.

Summary: Cocoa production data from 8 major producing countries and import/export data for key products and derivatives added to bring more transparency to the cocoa supply chain amidst record volatility.

What's New:

• Production volumes from:

  • West Africa: Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria

  • Latin America: Brazil, Ecuador

  • Asia Pacific: Indonesia, Papua New Guinea

• Global trade flow data for:

  • Cocoa beans

  • Cocoa powder, butter, and mass

  • Chocolate products

Why It Matters: Production volumes from major origins like Ivory Coast and Ghana often indicate future price movements. Combined with trade flow data, you can better anticipate market shifts and understand the influence of fundamental drivers on market dynamics.

How to Use It:

1. Find production data in your Production widget

2. Access trade flows through the Import/Export widgets (Pro tip: % Change and YTD figures can be found in dropdown)

3. Filter by country or product as needed

Don't have access to Cocoa yet?Contact the Vesper Team

Summary: New Cocoa Ratios Table tracks daily cocoa bean prices, regional premiums, and butter/powder ratios, helping you understand product value correlations.

What's New:

• Daily updated view of:

  • Cocoa bean prices by origin

  • Butter and powder ratios

  • Regional premiums

  • ICE futures prices

• Updates after ICE EU market close

Why It Matters: Cocoa butter and powder prices move independently based on market demand. This table helps you track these movements and their impact on product costs, critical for sourcing decisions.

How to Use It:

1. Navigate to the Cocoa section

2. Open the Ratios Table widget

3. Compare ratios across products and regions

Don’t have access yet?Reach out to the Vesper Team

Summary: Added Commodities Risk Analysis (CRA) weather reports to Vesper's cocoa coverage, providing detailed weather impact analysis amid record market volatility.

What's New:

• Regular reports from CRA covering:

  • Rainfall measurements

  • Soil moisture levels

  • Crop development

  • Production forecasts

• Expert analysis by Commodities Risk Analysis, cocoa specialists since 1980

Why It Matters: Understand how weather conditions in key growing regions affect supply outlook and potential price movements.

How to Use It:

1. Open Market Analysis section

2. Open latest CRA Weather Report

3. Check updates for key regions

Don't have access to Cocoa yet? Contact the Vesper Team

Looking for more on Cocoa? Don’t forget we have Expert Trader (Former head of Cocoa trading) Martijn Bron sharing his insights with Vesper users.

Summary: Expanded partnership with Sugar Online brings twice-monthly Indian sugar market reports, offering deep insights into the world's second-largest sugar producer.

What's New:

• Comprehensive India Sugar Market Report (twice monthly)

• Coverage includes domestic market dynamics, crop evolution, production forecasts

• Analysis of consumption trends, trade flows, and policy impacts

Why It Matters: Better understand price movements and market dynamics in India's sugar market, helping you understand the dynamics at play in the worlds second largest sugar producer. Policy changes in export behavior influence the world’s supply of sugar, being an important variable to understand when analyzing the market.

How to Use It:

1. Access the Market Analysis section

2. Filter on Sugar in your left bar

3. Open the latest report or scroll back to earlier publications