CAMPCO records US$390.7M turnover as arecanut, cocoa businesses expand
The cooperative increased procurement and value addition while raising concerns over imported arecanut and investing in new processing and storage infrastructure.
INDIA – The Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Co-operative Limited (CAMPCO) recorded a business turnover of Rs 3,735 crore (US$390.7M) and Profit Before Tax (PBT) of Rs 49.62 crore (US$ in 2025-26, despite volatility in the arecanut market and challenging conditions in the cocoa sector.
The cooperative attributed the performance to sustained procurement and marketing operations, farmer-focused initiatives, business diversification, digital services, infrastructure development and value addition.
Arecanut remained CAMPCO’s largest business segment. The cooperative procured 58,742.76 metric tonnes (MT) of arecanut worth Rs 2,924.32 crore (US$305.9M), comprising 24,052.07 MT of red arecanut and 34,690.69 MT of white arecanut.
CAMPCO sold 59,088.64 MT valued at Rs 2,985.19 crore (US$312.3M), including 22,914.53 MT of red arecanut and 36,174.11 MT of white arecanut.
The cooperative said its procurement and marketing network continued to provide growers with a dependable platform for marketing their produce while supporting market stability and better value realisation.
CAMPCO has raised concerns about rising imports of arecanut and their impact on domestic growers and marketing institutions. It has particularly flagged the alleged mixing of imported arecanut with domestic produce and its circulation as locally produced material.
According to CAMPCO, such practices affect traceability, market transparency and price discovery while putting pressure on domestic prices. It has urged the government to strengthen import monitoring, enforce regulations, prevent misclassification and ensure imported arecanut is not mixed with or passed off as domestic produce.
CAMPCO said the issue was raised during a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi, where it sought coordinated measures to protect arecanut growers.
The cooperative expanded its cocoa and chocolate operations amid fluctuations in cocoa prices. Its Chocolate Factory produced 12,606.40 MT, while sales of cocoa and chocolate products, including exports, reached Rs 488.65 crore (US$51.1M).
A new refiner has been installed, while procurement of an additional cocoa butter press is under way under a Rs 12 crore project. The cocoa butter press facility has 18 pots, increasing cocoa mass processing capacity by an additional 15 MT per day.
CAMPCO continued supporting plantation growers through rubber and pepper procurement and marketing. During 2025-26, it procured 1,704.77 MT of rubber and 1,656.12 MT of pepper.
The cooperative is undertaking infrastructure projects to improve storage, procurement and farmer services. At Shivamogga, it has proposed a 30,000 sq ft godown with capacity for one lakh bags, while a grading hall is under construction at Chennagiri and the Ponkunnam branch has been upgraded for pepper processing.
At Vittal, CAMPCO has proposed a 30,000 sq ft office-cum-godown complex on 91 cents of acquired land.
At Dharapuram, plans include an 8,000 sq ft godown with storage capacity for 550 MT of cocoa dry beans, alongside four additional drying yards covering 28,500 sq ft and adding 60 MT of drying capacity.
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