People are consuming more cocoa than farmers are able to produce, according to two of the world’s largest chocolate makers, who say that a global shortage of chocolate might be on the cards.
Mars, Inc. and Swiss-based chocolate giant Barry Callebaut say demand is likely to outstrip production by one million metric tons by 2020, the Washington Post reports.
Seventy percent of the world’s cocoa is produced in the Ivory Cost and Ghana but growing conditions in West Africa have not been ideal.
Drought has ravaged many cocoa plantations and a fungal disease called frosty pod has wiped out between 30 to 40 percent of cocoa production. Farmers are looking to other cash-crops such as corn, to make their living.
At the same time, demand for the tasty treat keeps rising and this is likely to force the price of chocolate to rise.
Read next: The 13 Most Influential Candy Bars of All Time
Get The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now.
- What a Photographer Saw in the West Bank
- Accenture’s Chief AI Officer on Why This Is a Defining Moment
- Inside COP28's Big 'Experiment'
- U.S. Doctors Can't Be Silent About Gaza: Column
- The Movie Wives Would Like a Word
- The 100 Must-Read Books of 2023
- The Top 100 Photos of 2023
- Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time
