LIVE VIRTUAL COURSE
Foundation in Cocoa Pricing
A practical foundation course in how the cocoa market works — the forces that set the price, the value chain that shapes it, what buyers actually pay and why they pay it. Built for the people whose decisions depend on cocoa pricing, but who've never had it properly explained.
£750 per person
Three live online sessions, 2 hours each. Max 15 participants. Join a course below or join the waitlist for future courses.
A live, foundation-level course in how the cocoa market actually works — the price, the value chain, and what buyers really pay.
Three 2-hour online sessions, Tuesdays 17, 24 November and 1 December 2026, 14:00–16:00 UK time. Led by Nicko Debenham, a former physical cocoa trader turned Head of Sustainability at Barry Callebaut.
Foundation level — no prior knowledge needed.
After purchase, we'll email you to confirm attendee names and emails for each seat purchased.
November 2026 14 to 16 UK
17 Nov, 24 Nov, 1 Dec
A live, foundation-level course in how the cocoa market actually works — the price, the value chain, and what buyers really pay.
Three 2-hour online sessions, Tuesdays 12, 19, 26 January 2027, 10:00–12:00 UK time. Led by Nicko Debenham, a former physical cocoa trader turned Head of Sustainability at Barry Callebaut.
Foundation level — no prior knowledge needed.
After purchase, we'll email you to confirm attendee names and emails for each seat purchased.
January 2027 10 to 12 UK
12 Jan, 19 Jan, 26 Jan
A live, foundation-level course in how the cocoa market actually works — the price, the value chain, and what buyers really pay.
Three 2-hour online sessions, Tuesdays 12, 19, 26 January 2027, 14:00–16:00 UK time. Led by Nicko Debenham, a former physical cocoa trader turned Head of Sustainability at Barry Callebaut.
Foundation level — no prior knowledge needed.
After purchase, we'll email you to confirm attendee names and emails for each seat purchased.
January 2027 14 to 16 UK
12 Jan, 19 Jan, 26 Jan
WHY THIS EXISTS
A knowledge gap that impacts real decisions
The price of cocoa shapes decisions across companies, governments and the organisations working to improve how the market serves people and organisations across the supply chain from farmers, to companies to consumers — yet how that price is actually formed is rarely explained to the people whose work is impacted by it. This course closes that gap.
Companies
Better outcomes in your own role, because you understand what shapes the price.
Origin Institutions
Push for a better price for farmers, backed by how the market actually works.
NGOs
Hold the market to account, backed by how it actually works — not assumption.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
A working picture of how the market and value chain functions
Across three live sessions, you'll build understanding from how the bean itself is valued through to how the whole system connects to your own decisions.
What determines a cocoa bean's value, and how it becomes the products behind every cocoa purchase
Who sits in the value chain, and where cost and value actually sit
What drives supply, demand and price — and the indicators used to read them
What the futures market is, why it exists and how it is used
How the physical price is linked to the futures price
This is a foundation course, not a trading one — the aim is a genuine working understanding of the market, not to teach you to place a trade. No prior knowledge is needed.
LED BY
Nicko Debenham
25 Years Trading Cocoa — later Head of Sustainability, Barry Callebaut
Nicko spent 25 years trading cocoa — a first-hand education in how the market actually moves value, what determines price, and what it means for farmers at the start of the chain. He later became Head of Sustainability at Barry Callebaut, the world's largest chocolate company, where he used that understanding to help the business and its farmers get a better outcome.