The price of Easter chocolate has risen this year, making it more expensive than ever, which might contribute to a decline in Easter spirit. A few reasons for this are that the supply of chocolate has been low, and the climate has been unstable, affecting the harvests negatively.
The reason behind the supply downfall of chocolate is that the harvest of cocoa, the main ingredient for chocolate, has not been optimal this year. Kishore Boegel, a chocolatier who sells treats like hand-painted bonbons and molded chocolate high-heeled shoes at her shop Cocoa Tree Confectionery in Mequon, Wisconsin, has been losing significant money purchasing the materials to make the chocolate. This is driving the cost of chocolate higher this year. It is not only Easter chocolate; chocolate in general is also affected. Droughts, floods, and plant diseases that ravaged the region last year contributed to record cocoa prices. A bad harvest ruined the harvest of cacao, which resulted in fewer and more expensive sales.
Cocoa comes from the processed seeds of the cacao tree, which are sensitive to weather changes and are only grown in a specific region close to the equator. Extreme weather and climate change patterns, such as excessive heat and abnormal rainfall, have disrupted harvests in West Africa. Due to these extreme weather conditions in West Africa, the price of chocolate has risen to over $12,700 per metric ton compared to the original, which is $2,200 per metric ton! Besides changing weather patterns, several other issues are also driving recent price hikes in cocoa. Across West Africa, new deforestation laws have prevented farmers from expanding cocoa plantations, keeping a lid on supply. West Africa is also grappling with an aging tree stock. “Older trees are not being replaced,” Pohlmann Gonzaga told Al Jazeera.
One more reason for the chocolate overthrow is the rise of a virus. At the same time, the spread of the Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus (CSSV) has hit, which is the primary cause of the bad harvests. Tropical Research Services, a market research group, recently found that Ivory Coast cocoa production could halve due to the spread of CSSV.
Easter chocolate, which was once cheap and affordable, is now very expensive to get. The cost of this delicious chocolate has risen every Easter, but now the price per metric ton is about the price of a Toyota Corolla. Sarah Metz, a reporter from CBS News, states, “The ideal temperature range for cacao growth is up to 32 degrees Celsius, or 89.6 Fahrenheit, but recent trends indicate that climate change is increasing the number of days above this range.”
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