The Cocoa Crisis

Is the world running out of chocolate? With outbreaks of crop disease and poor weather conditions, the future of the chocolate industry looks bleak.

Perhaps the most important ingredient in any good cookie or baked treat, chocolate is an essential commodity we all love.

However, the chocolate making industry is facing unprecedented production challenges, due to a shortage in cocoa beans. Cocoa prices have soared to more than $10,000 per tonne (that's nearly £8000 here in the UK), almost three times more than average prices since the 1980's. With cocoa prices surging, chocolate making companies have had no choice but to increase their prices too, meaning chocolate has become even more of a luxurious treat for the majority of consumers.

Why is cocoa production so important in making chocolate?

Cocoa beans create the main base of chocolate as we know it, in the form of cocoa liquor and cocoa butter. Sugar is added, as cocoa has a bitter taste, as well as other preservatives and flavourings depending on the recipe.

The main difference between the three types of chocolate is the level of cocoa liquor included in the recipe.

More cocoa liquor will create a darker chocolate, with a richer and more bitter taste. Milk chocolate contains less cocoa liquor, but more of other ingredients, such as condensed milk or milk powder, while white chocolate is technically not classified as a 'real' chocolate at all, as it contains no cocoa liquor, just cocoa butter!

But what is causing such dramatic price increases?

Approximately half of the global cocoa supply comes from the Ivory Coast and Ghana, countries that have faced extreme challenges with growing cocoa, due to irregular rainfall, crop diseases and aging cocoa trees.

Droughts and intense heatwaves have hit West African countries hard, and coupled with extreme rainfall events there are huge outbreaks of 'black pod disease'. This fungal disease can destroy an entire harvest, and while fungicides are available, many farmers can't afford or access these resources.

The 'swollen shoot virus' also breaks out after excessive rain is followed by extremely dry conditions. This disease progressively decreases crop yield from cocoa trees each year. Currently, cutting down infected trees and plantations is the only known way of dealing with the disease.

Furthermore, internal problems are also decreasing cocoa production in cocoa-producing regions such as West Africa. Illegal gold mines have overrun large areas of cocoa plantations, with many poor land owners selling their land to miners as they receive more in rent than they would if producing cocoa. Others are forcibly removed their land, but are powerless to do anything to regain their property. If that wasn't enough, governments especially in African countries, are taking advantage of increasing cocoa prices, as they set cocoa prices to the farmers based on sales from the previous year. While the global price is above $10,000 per tonne, farmers are only receiving a fixed price of less than $2000 per tonne from the government.

With the raw ingredients being so hard to produce and then process to an edible state for consumers, the global chocolate industry has become increasingly unstable. Prices are expected to increase further, so consumers like you and I will have to pay more for our chocolate craving.

Here at Willow & Finch, we are continuing to purchase premium chocolate from trusted companies that support cocoa farmers and reforestation efforts, and hope that, by supporting sustainable chocolate production, we will be able to overcome the global cocoa crisis.