There may be a choc-apocalypse ahead. Disease, demand and global warming are all combining to make chocolate scarcer and more expensive, according to TheSpec.
There's a disease known as Witches Broom, (or Moniliophthora perniciosa according to Wikipedia) that has wiped out Costa Rica's trees, and many others, Bloomberg says.
China has developed a taste for chocolate, according to CNBC, dipping into the dwindling world supply.
To make matters worse, the world is demanding more dark chocolate, which requires more cacao per bar. Bloomberg says: "It takes about 500 beans to make a pound of bittersweet chocolate."
Overall, things are looking dark for the future of chocolate.
There's also the fact that trees that produce the finest, rarest chocolate, are, well, weak, according to TheSpec. They are more susceptible to disease. But governments have stepped in, TheSpec says, trying to develop disease-resistant, bigger cocoa pods, in a cacao called CCN-51.
So, three things will happen:
- Growers will charge more for single-origin, rarer cacao, Bloomberg says. Bars will get smaller, but cost the same, or more.
- There's another cacao variety rising in popularity because it is a robust producer (but doesn't taste as good) called CCN-51. Chocolate producers will use more of that, Bloomberg says.
- We'll see more fillers, including vegetable fat and other fillers in our chocolate bars, TheSpec reports.
The one bright spot? Nestle today promised to eliminate artificial ingredients from its chocolate bars by the end of 2015, according to NPR. They'll be changing 75 recipes, from ButterFinger to Sno Caps, according to Nestle's press release.
So, expect to pay more for the "finest" chocolate, but be reassured that everyday chocolate will have fewer artificial colors and flavors added.
