{"id":20505,"date":"2024-04-02T18:01:17","date_gmt":"2024-04-02T16:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/le-chocolat-nouvel-or-noir\/"},"modified":"2024-04-03T12:51:31","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T10:51:31","slug":"chocolate-the-new-black-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/chocolate-the-new-black-gold\/","title":{"rendered":"Chocolate, the new black gold?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Easter wouldn’t be the same without its iconic chocolate eggs. A tradition that, once again this year, delighted both young and old. However, a shadow looms over the chocolate industry.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For the first time in its history, the price of cocoa beans has surpassed the symbolic threshold of $10,000 per ton<\/strong> on Tuesday, March 26th<\/strong>. Industrial giants are destabilized by this meteoric rise and the prospect of dwindling stocks. Given the increasing consumption of chocolate worldwide, the scenario of shortage is worrisome.<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Chocolate Frenzy<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cocoa productions are facing increased and global demand. Asian countries, in particular, have developed a newfound taste for chocolate. Since the 1990s<\/strong>, the market growth in China has led foreign brands such as Ferrero, Cadbury, or Mars<\/strong> to establish themselves.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This indulgence quickly integrated into the country’s traditions. In the case of the Mid-Autumn Festival<\/strong>, held annually in China, mooncakes are the event’s specialty. Typically filled with red beans, egg yolk, or meat, these pastries have been revamped by giants like the American Starbucks<\/strong> or the Belgian chocolatier Godiva<\/strong>, who now offer chocolate mooncakes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By capitalizing on this new attraction to cocoa, brands ensure themselves an increasingly extensive clientele.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
\u00a9 Maxim’s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/h2>\n

Harvests in Peril<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

The primary factor of this cocoa crisis? Current adverse weather conditions. The phenomenon, “El Ni\u00f1o,” responsible for the extreme temperatures observed a few weeks ago, particularly in Brazil, also impacts Africa. Ivory Coast<\/strong> and Ghana<\/strong>, the main cocoa bean producers, account for over 60% of global cocoa<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“El Ni\u00f1o” is said to have lowered their last overall harvest by 11%<\/strong>, according to the International Cocoa Organization. Demand could exceed supply by nearly 400,000 tons<\/strong> this year. A situation that is expected to have rapid repercussions on global stocks.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Melting Actions<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

The recent surge in cocoa prices worries investors concerned about their margins. In the United States and Europe, industry professionals are keeping a close eye. The agri-food giant Nestl\u00e9<\/strong> (Smarties, Lion, KitKat) has seen its stock on the Zurich Stock Exchange gradually falter since 2023, losing about 18%<\/strong> in almost a year. Over the same period, Barry Callebaut<\/strong>, the world’s largest bulk chocolate producer, faces a loss of 33%<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The situation is no better on the other side of the Atlantic. On Wall Street, the giant Mondelez<\/strong>, owner of C\u00f4te d’Or, Milka, and Toblerone<\/strong>, witnessed a nearly 10% decline over a year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A Destructive Industry<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

While the scarcity of chocolate might distress the gourmands, the environment will fare better. Producing one kilogram of chocolate alone represents nearly 30 kilograms of carbon<\/strong>. This high figure is due to the deforestation caused by cocoa bean cultivation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In 2018<\/strong>, the NGO Mighty Earth unveiled alarming statistics about this industry. In Ghana and Ivory Coast, nearly 14,000 hectares of forest have disappeared<\/strong>, equivalent to 15,000 football fields. The demands of major industries encourage agriculture to violate measures taken for forest protection and even impact protected areas.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NGOs estimate that at this rate, all Ivorian forests will have disappeared by 2034 if the trend does not reverse. A sensitive issue for industrial giants, but also for local farmers who rely on the production of these beans.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Read also> CONGOLESE CONFLICT: THE REASONS FOR AN EXTENSION TO ITS CLOSE AFRICAN NEIGHBORS<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Featured Photo : \u00a9 Pexels<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Easter wouldn’t be the same without its iconic chocolate eggs. A tradition that, once again this year, delighted both young and old. However, a shadow looms over the chocolate industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20493,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"%%post_title%% %%sep%% %%sitetitle%%","_seopress_titles_desc":"The Easter period wouldn't be the same without its iconic chocolate eggs. Yet, a shadow looms over the chocolate industry","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"both","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":301,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[706,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-data","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}