Hello there! This is Geri, the owner of Open Book Chocolates. I wanted to take a moment to talk about recent global cacao shortages and price increases. There’s a lot of important information in this blog post, so I hope you’ll take the time to read this.
According to a Reuters article, “Exclusive: African cocoa plants run out of beans as global chocolate crisis deepens,” published this past March:
“Major African cocoa plants in Ivory Coast and Ghana have stopped or cut processing because they cannot afford to buy beans, four trading sources said, meaning chocolate prices around the world are likely to soar.
Chocolate-makers have already increased prices to consumers, after three years of poor cocoa harvests, with a fourth expected, in the two countries that produce nearly 60% of the world's cocoa.
Cocoa prices have more than doubled over the last year, scaling numerous all-time highs.”
According to an Inc. article, “A Cocoa Price Crunch Forces a Scramble to Keep Chocolate Affordable,” published this past June:
“Other food companies are looking at different ways to offset the commodity price spike, including reducing the chocolate content of some products and replacing the cocoa-based confection with other sweet ingredients. Experts in a CNBC report cited the launch of Hershey's new Jumbo Reese's Cup as an example, giving buyers a bigger burst of peanut butter flavor to compensate for comparatively lower chocolate content.”