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MALAYSIAN COCOA BOARD
The Malaysian Cocoa Board (MCB) is a federal statutory research agency
under the Ministry of Primary Industries Malaysia. It was established
under the Act of Parliament 343 in 1988 and in operation since 1989. The
main objective is to develop the cocoa industry in Malaysia to be well
intergrated and competitive in the global market. Emphasis is given to
increasing productivity and efficiency in cocoa bean production and
increasing downstream activities.
Functions
The main functions of MCB cover:-
To
conduct and promote research on production, processing, storage and
consumption;
To
conduct and coordinate activities and policies on research;
To
improve quality;
To
regulate marketing activities;
To
collect and disseminate information;
To
supervise and coordinate cocoa related activities that cover processing,
storage, regulatory and marketing.
Research and Development
Research and Development (R&D) is the major activities of MCB.
Research programmes and projects are carried out to address the various
problems and needs of the cocoa planting and downstream industry. The
objectives are to acquire know how and to develop technologies and
planting materials that could lead to increase in productivity, reduction
in production cost and labour requirement , improvement in the quality of
cocoa beans and cocoa products, development of new range of cocoa products
and new uses as well as enhancement in competitive edge of Malaysian cocoa
beans and cocoa products.
Market Development and
Techno-Economy
The objective of Market development is to increase market share of
Malaysian cocoa beans and cocoa products in the international and domestic
market. The activities include international and domestic promotion.
International promotion is carried out through trade and technical
missions and international expositions. Domestic promotion is undertaken
through cocoa fairs, school promotion programme and exhibitions. Goodness
of cocoa is the main theme for promotion. Whereas, the techno-economy
programme is to look at the economics of production from raw cocoa beans
up to final cocoa products through R&D and census. Information on
cocoa prices, market situation and other related statistics are made
available for use by the industry.
Licensing and Grading
Licensing and grading is carried out to ensure the quality of Malaysian
cocoa beans to meet the required Malaysian standards. MCB undertakes to
license wet cocoa bean processors, cocoa traders, cocoa grinders and cocoa
graders. It is also the responsibility of MCB to set guidelines and
standards for cocoa beans and cocoa products and regulatory.
Target Groups Development
MCB will continue to implement the programme for target groups development
which include cocoa smallholders and handmade chocolate entrepreneurs. The
target groups development programme is an integrated part of the extension
and development programme of MCB. The main objective of the smallholder
development programme is to increase the productivity of the cocoa
smallholders from less than 0.5 t/ha/year. The activities include visits,
meetings, supply of planting materials and incentives and training on
planting technology and quality management. Whereas, the objective of
handmade chocolate entrepreneurs development programme is to establish
Malaysian entrepreneurs that involve in handmade chocolate industry. The
activities are transfer of technology, development of products and
machinery, center of chocolate covertures supply, marketing and
promotions, and technical and advisory services.
Extension and Transfer of
Technology
Workshops, seminars, field visits, demonstrations and training courses on
cocoa planting technology, chocolate making and product development among
others are the activities for extension and transfer of technology
undertaken by MCB.
Technical and Advisory
Services
MCB offers technical and advisory services to the cocoa planting and
downstream industry. The laboratory and pilot plant at the Cocoa
Downstream Research Centre, Bandar Baru Bangi of MCB are equipped to
provide services on physical, chemical and microbiological analyses of
cocoa beans and cocoa products and used for research on cocoa processing
and product development respectively. |
