Posted on 11/17/2014 10:38:15 AM PST by Bettyprob
There's no easy way to say this: You're eating too much chocolate, all of you. And it's getting so out of hand that the world could be headed towards a potentially disastrous scenario if it doesn't stop.
Those are, roughly speaking, the words of two huge chocolate makers, Mars, Inc. and Barry Callebaut. And there's some data to back them up.
Chocolate deficits, whereby farmers produce less cocoa than the world eats, are becoming the norm. Already, we are in the midst of what could be the longest streak of consecutive chocolate deficits in more than 50 years. It also looks like deficits aren't just carrying over from year-to-year—the industry expects them to grow. Last year, the world ate roughly 70,000 metric tons more cocoa than it produced. By 2020, the two chocolate-makers warn that that number could swell to 1 million metric tons, a more than 14-fold increase; by 2030, they think the deficit could reach 2 million metric tons.
The problem is, for one, a supply issue. Dry weather in West Africa (specifically in the Ivory Coast and Ghana, where more than 70 percent of the world's cocoa is produced) has greatly decreased production in the region. A nasty fungal disease known as frosty pod hasn't helped either. The International Cocoa Organization estimates it has wiped out between 30 percent and 40 percent of global coca production. Because of all this, cocoa farming has proven a particularly tough business, and many farmers have shifted to more profitable crops, like corn, as a result.
Then there's the world's insatiable appetite for chocolate. China's growing love for the stuff is of particular concern. The Chinese are buying more and more chocolate each year. Still, they only consume per capita about 5 percent of what the average Western European eats.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
KEWL!!! Thanks!
You mean whatever trend is happening now may not continue forever?
just in time for Christmas ... geezsh!!! and coffee is going up? No coffee. No chocolate. I’m gonna die!
Let’s make a deal ....
There is a solution to this problem:
Buy a little extra stock now, before the famine hits.
There is always Tea and Carob http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceratonia_siliqua
*Ducking and Running*
LOL ... Gee Moose you are adapting my tactics ... LOL
Learning from the best...
:)
Moose, am humbled ... I always considered you one of the Best, Moose!
Those five thousand horses of yours ready?
Sometimes we sleep ... Sometimes we tell the day that we will think ... Thanks Moose ... No Run Away!!!
I know better ...
yep, Moose, we are half-way there! Call those five thousand in!!! Clear! Prayers Friend!
Now this IS a crises!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.