The most popular sweet in the world is bound to get costly, as cocoa, which is the primary raw material of chocolate has scaled astronomical numbers. Cocoa prices for the first time has peaked and in fact gone past the USD 10,000 or Rs 8,33,892 a ton for the first time ever.
Cocoa production primarily transpires in the West African nations of Ghana and Ivory Coast.
In the recent past, the sweet of the world has been marred by supply chains issues, starting from the origin states. This has lead to a shortage in the availability or Cocoa or Theobroma cacao.
This shortage is attributed to challenges faced by farmers in West Africa. According to reports, there are myriad issues plaguing the sector in these countries, including adverse weather conditions, disease outbreaks, and declining tree health.
The deficit and subsequent surge in cocoa prices may soon trickle down to the end user as it expected to impact consumers, as the world grapples with the most severe supply deficit in decades.
Prices of Cocoa Double
The prices of the commodity stood at USD 4,205 a ton at the beginning of 2024, just in the matter of barely three months, the prices have more than doubled pushing the industry into crisis mode. This as the chocolate industry is said to be worth USD 119.39 billion in 2022. In addition the sector is also projected to expand to USD 195.58 billion by 2029.
The prices of the commodity stood at USD 4,205 a ton at the beginning of 2024, just in the matter of barely three months, the prices have more than doubled pushing the industry into crisis mode. | File Image
Although, Europe has many of those institutions or companies, that create the end product, chocolates is one of the most globally consumed items, and the pack of consumption is led by the United states, bringing in $3.8 billion worth of chocolate in to its territory.
This apart from a rise prices for end products and for consumers who buy it, it is also expected to stoke fear of some kind of shrinkflation in the market. Shrinkflation, is where the price of the commodity remains the same while the product on offer itself is modified and less of the original is offered, thereby in principle 'shrinking the product'. In this context, this could lead to your chocolate bars becoming smaller and perhaps even inferior.
