A new report released suggests that the world will soon face a shortage of chocolate, something that has become increasingly expensive in recent years because of the growing scarcity of everyone’s favorite remedy to a hard day at work, sadness or the breakup.
Cocoa, the Washington Post reports, has soared 10 percent this year in addition to last year’s 20 percent gains. The ingredient’s skyrocketing price, mostly due to the enormous demand in emerging markets, particularly China, is creating a concern that chocolate may actually soon transform into a luxury item.
Two of the biggest chocolate manufacturers are reportedly sounding the alarm: Mars and the Swiss-based Barry Callebaut. According to data cited by the two companies, international consumers imbibed approximately 70,000 metric tons of cocoa more than it generated last year. By the year 2020, the deficit could climb to roughly one million, and in 2030 that number could double to two million metric tons.
Consumers may have noticed how retailers have hiked prices of chocolate bars and other chocolate products by 60 percent in the last two years. If this trend persists then possibly no longer can we enjoy the benefits of consuming chocolate: a nepenthe, a celebration, a health benefit.
Aside from a dramatic surge in demand, what’s also causing the shortage? Ostensibly, dry weather conditions in parts of West Africa, which is responsible for producing more than two-thirds of the globe’s cocoa supply, has prompted a significant decrease in production. Meanwhile, a fungal disease called frosty pod has also eviscerated as much as 40 percent of worldwide crops.
This isn’t the first time that the business community has discussed a chocolate shortage. Last year, it was reported that serious diseases affecting trees in Latin America was hurting the global supply of cocoa.
Businesses and scientists are collaborating to conjure up a number of solutions to this issue. There are efforts underway to cheaply create chocolate abundance, though some analysts are concerned that this could erase the divine taste of the brown stuff and make it as dull as tofu.
For instance, an agricultural research group in the Ivory Coast is planting a series of new hybrid plants called Mercedes, an experiment that could produce cocoa seven times more than the average crop. However, it has been reported that the results taste like “acidic dirt” and “just average.”
“We now Skype with cocoa farmers to talk about the way chocolate should taste,” said Brad Kintzer, TCHO’s so-called chief chocolate officer, in an interview with Bloomberg News.
Will consumers permit retailers to sell them bland-tasting chocolate or will chocolate aficionados continue to eat inexpensive chocolate bars without giving it a second thought on taste? At this point in time, corporations are just satisfied in containing a chocolate shortage.
Chocolate is only 2,500 to 3,000 years old so perhaps we can get used to a world without chocolate. Or maybe not…