Chocolate News
Cocoa Breaks $10,000 Record, With Pricier Chocolate to Follow
FINANCE.YAHOO.COM Cocoa futures surged above an unprecedented $10,000 a metric ton on Tuesday, March 26th, before erasing gains and taking a breather from a historic rally that has seen prices of the key chocolate ingredient double this year. The market is being rattled by poor crops in key West African growers that has put the world on course for a third straight annual supply deficit. The industry is grappling with the legacy of poor returns paid to cocoa farmers and fears are mounting about being able to source enough beans.How sweet it isn’t: Cocoa prices hit record highs ahead of Easter holiday
Cocoa futures have surged this year, roughly doubling since the start of 2024. Rising temperatures and weather conditions have stressed and damaged crops in West Africa, which produces more than 70% of the global cocoa supply. Big chocolate companies like Hershey’s and Cadbury maker Mondelez have been passing those costs on to consumers — and then some: Hershey’s net profit margins ticked higher to 16.7% in 2023 from 15.8% in 2022. Mondelez reported a jump to 13.8% in 2023 from 8.6% in 2022.
Blommer Chocolate closing downtown Chicago manufacturing plant
Blommer Chocolate announced in a news release Friday that it would close its Chicago manufacturing plant and expand and transform other facilities. The Chicago facility, located at 600 W. Kinzie St., is the original manufacturing plant of the Blommer group, founded in 1939. The Chicago location opening in 1939 made Blommer the third largest industrial chocolate maker in the world.
Why chocolate prices are likely to skyrocket soon
According to Food & Wine, cocoa prices are at a 47-year high. What caused this? Inflation plays a part, but the bigger issue at hand is that cocoa cultivation in both Africa, specifically Ghana and the Ivory Coast, and Ecuador has reportedly become much more complicated due to drier weather patterns and rainfall changes. In addition, there was a shortage of cocoa “due to that unfavorable weather coupled with crop disease and smuggling” in Ghana; the smuggling is thought to have accounted for approximately 600 million in lost revenue as per the Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Eating Chocolate Every Day Has An Unexpected Effect On Your Gut
“Chocolate is basically fermented beans. It’s made from cocoa which is a prebiotic fiber, a type of fiber your gut microbes love to digest and turn into useful molecules for your gut,” explained National Health Service general surgeon Dr. Karan Rajan.