A British financier bought 241,000 tonnes of cocoa beans from a London futures exchange Friday, enough to fill five Titanics, make 5.3 billion chocolate bars and match Europe's supply of the commodity.
Anthony Ward, 50, the former Chairman of the European Cocoa Association, made the biggest single coca trade in the last 14 years, reports the Daily Telegraph. However, the purchase wasn't made so that he could satisfy his sweet tooth: he now holds so much of the market share that he has the power to make manufacturers raise their prices.
The paper also said that Ward has a net worth of £36 million ($49 million) and in the last decade has owned up to 15% of the world's cocoa supply.
This isn't the first time Ward has done something like this. Ward made £40 million ($55 million) in 2002 after buying 204,000 tonnes of beans when West Africa going through political instability and poor harvests. As the price of cocoa increased, so did his profits.
Cocoa prices have also more than doubled since 2007 due to increasing demand from the emerging middle-class in India and China.
Anthony Ward, 50, the former Chairman of the European Cocoa Association, made the biggest single coca trade in the last 14 years, reports the Daily Telegraph. However, the purchase wasn't made so that he could satisfy his sweet tooth: he now holds so much of the market share that he has the power to make manufacturers raise their prices.
The paper also said that Ward has a net worth of £36 million ($49 million) and in the last decade has owned up to 15% of the world's cocoa supply.
This isn't the first time Ward has done something like this. Ward made £40 million ($55 million) in 2002 after buying 204,000 tonnes of beans when West Africa going through political instability and poor harvests. As the price of cocoa increased, so did his profits.
Cocoa prices have also more than doubled since 2007 due to increasing demand from the emerging middle-class in India and China.
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