ABSTRACT
Complaints of shadowy Western speculators forcing down prices of cocoa beans have a long history, but there is little evidence to support such rumours prior to 1914 (Mahony 1996:175). Although this is the link in the commodity chain about which the least is known, rivalry appears to have been even more marked among brokers and merchants than among chocolate manufacturers. Barriers to entry were low, and manufacturers, sensitive to the cost of cocoa beans, were always ready to cut out intermediaries and buy directly. In view of such accusations, all too often accompanied by racist or xenophobic undertones, it is ironic that the most severe market distortions before 1914 were caused by associations of wealthy planters from the tropics.
