As a 6,000,000 share day is to Manhattan's Stock Exchange, so is a
600-lot day to Manhattan's Cocoa Exchange—drab, brick, Water St.
trading centre that fixes the price of the world's cocoa. No small
amount is 600 lots, however, as one lot equals 30,000 pounds and 600
lots have a value of close to two million dollars. Last week, Cocoa
Exchange transactions reached a day's high of 627 lots, breaking a
record of three years' standing. A seat on the Cocoa Exchange was sold
for $6,000, a rapid advance over the $300 at which charter memberships
were priced in 1925. Thus had cocoa a large and busy week.Food & Drink. Cocoa laymen think of cocoa chiefly as a beverage,
imagine that the cocoa business might be expressed largely in terms of
cups consumed. To the cocoa trader, however, drinking-cocoa is only a fraction of the industry's products. To
him cocoa and chocolate are identical, both proceeding from the same
cocoa bean; the entire chocolate-bar business is also a portion of the
cocoa industry. The value of the cakes of chocolate made in a year is
about three times the value of the cups of cocoa. The bean was
originally grown in South America, was transplanted to Africa some 35
years ago. Now the African Gold Coast produces more than half the
world's supply. Sweet-loving U. S. citizens import approximately
one-third of the world-production.Cocoa Exchange. The Manhattan Cocoa Exchange transactions are about
twice as large as transactions on all other cocoa exchanges combined,
with London and Liverpool exchanges ranking next in size. It was
originally planned as a cocoa and rubber exchange, but the
rubber men did not come in and now have their own exchange. Outstanding
furnishings on the rather sparsely equipped Exchange floor include a large
battery of telephones and a brass-rail circle occupied by camp-chairs on
which the traders perch. Compared to the Wall Street Exchange, there is a
noticeable absence of fury, frenzy; the building has indeed a somewhat
musty atmosphere.Blumenthals. Famed among cocoa makers are the Hershey Chocolate Co., the
Walter Baker Co. and the Blumenthal Bros. There are
five Blumenthals, Joseph, Meyer, Aaron, M. I., and Jacob; but Joseph,
the president, is more potent than his brethren. Last week he bustled
busily over the Exchange. He is a small, thin man with a brown suit which he has worn so consistently that it is
indelibly associated with him. Of German descent, he is an Orthodox
Jew, and rarely visits the Exchange on Saturdays except when there is a
very threatening bear market. The main plant is in Philadelphia; the
New York office, at No. 16 Exchange Place, is small as to staff and
scarce as to furniture. On the walls hang many photographs of family
Blumenthal groups—the various Blumenthals with their wives and
children and an old group picture of the five brothers. The Blumenthals
are best known through their Raisinettes, a specialty consisting of a
chocolate-embedded raisin. Another good Blumenthal seller is a peanut
coated with chocolate. All the Blumenthals are excellent pinochle
players.
