Will there be a chocolate drought? World’s supply of sustainable cocoa could run out by 2014
""The world faces a chocolate ‘drought’ over the next few years, an expert warned yesterday.
Political unrest in the Ivory Coast, where 40 per cent of the world’s cocoa beans are grown, has ‘significantly’ depleted the number of certified fair trade cocoa farmers.
Many have fled the West African country, while fair trade training programmes have also come to a halt.
Fairtrade training programmes have ground to a halt because of the danger farmers face in rural areas.
The situation is already affecting chocolate manufacturers, who are facing the highest cocoa prices for over 30 years....""
Political turmoil far away continues to affect YOU at a personal level. Problems in the West African counrty Ivory Coast are wreaking havoc on the world's SUPPLY of cocoa beans. The Ivory Coast is a major supplier of fair-trade cocoa beans to chocolate producers who have committed to only buying certified fair-trade cocoa beans for their finished products. This is an easy one---no graph needed---Demand EXCEEDS Supply, so what happens to the price? Go buy your chocolate now...oh, wait, that increases demand (consumer expectations) and increases the price too---Dang it! You really CAN'T escape the laws of demand and supply...
With the situation in the Ivory Coast the supply is decreasing which makes the graph shift to the left, quantity demanded decrease, and price increase. So, how do we ensure that chocolate prices go down? I say we kill two birds with one stone and make the allocative efficiency decision to divert funds to health prevention marketing. If people are encouraged to practice healthy habits, which is Very Hypothetical, then both the quantity demanded and price would go down, which would hopefully solve the chocolate price problem.
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