Vesper has expanded its proprietary Shea & Cocoa equivalent fats coverage with 10 new Vesper Price Index (VPI) benchmarks for Shea butter and its derivatives. Published weekly, these benchmarks combine inputs from renowned brokers to bring transparency to one of the most opaque supply chains in the market.

What's New:

• Expanded Shea Coverage: Weekly benchmarks for Crude, Semi-Refined, Handmade, Shea Olein, and Shea Oil across key West African origins (Ghana, Burkina Faso).

• Broad Market Input: Prices derived from renowned brokers, combining inputs from multiple partners to ensure robust and unbiased market representation.

Why It Matters:

Public price transparency for Shea is extremely limited, leaving procurement teams to rely on fragmented signals or single-source quotes. These proprietary VPIs provide the independent reference needed to verify quotes in a notoriously non-transparent market. Especially with Cocoa price movements of the past years, this was a much-requested product from our users

How to Use It:

• Prices Widget: Bookmark specific grades (e.g., Shea Stearin, Crude Shea Butter) for one-click access to the latest weekly prices.

• Price Comparison: Compare different processing stages (e.g., Crude vs. Semi-Refined) to identify value opportunities and spot diverging trends between product types.

• Cost Models: Select these Shea VPIs as ingredients in your Cost Models to forecast the total cost of confectionery, Chocolate or any other formulations using actual market data.

How to access?

Add to new or existing dashboards using the search function, or contact your Customer Success Manager at [email protected] to confirm which specific grades are currently active for your region.

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

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: New cocoa news category added with AI-powered filtering and translation, ensuring you only see the most relevant global cocoa market updates.

What's New:

• Dedicated cocoa news category

• AI-powered article filtering and translation

• Coverage includes:

  • Crops, farming, and futures markets

  • West African and Indonesian production

  • European, North American, and Asian processing

  • Market trends and analysis

Why It Matters: Our AI filters through global news sources to deliver only the most relevant cocoa market updates, translated and ready to read - saving you time while keeping you informed.

How to Use It:

1. Navigate to the News section

2. Select the Cocoa filter

3. Pro tip: Set up keyword notifications to get alerts for specific topics

Need help? Contact your customer success manager or email [email protected]