National Chocolate Day is Celebrated annually on October 28th In the United States, but will we have Chocolate forever?

I came upon an article stating, “About half of the cocoa beans recently produced by the Ivory Coast aren't meeting quality standards, adding to an existing worldwide shortage of that key chocolate ingredient” (Tam).  Another stating, “The rising need for cocoa, combined with a recent slump in production, has triggered a worldwide warning that we could run out of chocolate” (Bellomo).

As any other chocolate lover would, I began to panic and wonder why this is happening. Well, it turns out that the trees are being damaged from external factors that make for poor farming conditions, “But there are other issues slightly less under her control, such as old trees, poor weather, and disease like the fungus-ridden Cavendish banana that's going extinct” (Bellomo).

So what can the chocolate industry do to save the chocolate? They have already started to invest money into try to save chocolate. “...giant chocolate companies like Hershey's, Mars...and Mondelez...are forking over wads of cash—a total of about $1 billion—to try and reverse the downfall of cocoa farming” (Bellomo).

Hopefully, these companies can save the sacred treasures of chocolate, but until then let’s not take something for granted until it is gone.

Sources

Bellomo, Rheanna O'Neil. "A Massive Cocoa Shortage Could Limit the World's Chocolate Supply." Delish. 15 Jan. 2016. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

Donna Tam. "Is There a Global Chocolate Shortage Coming?" Market Place. 07 June 2016. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.