Chocoholics Beware: A Sweet Crisis Unfolds

A report by Lea Fayad, English adaptation by Nadine Sassine 

To all chocolate lovers, we have an important announcement for you.
But it's not a very "sweet" one.

This might be the last time you find chocolate bars at the current prices because they are skyrocketing. 

The price of cocoa, the main ingredient in chocolate, is soaring worldwide, reaching historic levels. 

The price of 1000 kilograms of cocoa has surpassed $9000, triple what it was last year. From the mid-eighties until the previous year, the average price was $3500. 

What's happening?

To understand the chocolate crisis, we must go to West Africa, specifically Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, and Nigeria, which produce 75% of the world's cocoa. 

There, farmers have long relied on cocoa cultivation to fight poverty. But in return, they receive little for their production. 

Consequently, they need more resources and incentives to improve their land or invest in fertilizers and pesticides to combat diseases. Adding to this structural problem, waves of floods and droughts last year due to climate change have disrupted production. 

The supply can no longer meet the high global demand for chocolate, which has doubled in the last 30 years.

As a result, major chocolate manufacturers are employing various strategies to deal with this crisis.

If they decide not to raise the price of the bars, they'll have to shrink their size or replace some of the cocoa with cheaper ingredients (sugar, oil, fruits, nuts...).

Hopefully, the rise in cocoa prices will help farmers improve their production until the balance between supply and demand is restored. 

So, try to save the bar of chocolate in your hand for darker days. If not, enjoy every bite of it.