I'm putting it out in anticipation of the arrival of Santa Claus.
"Cocoa shortage, demand pushing up price of chocolate" by David Jolly | New York Times, December 24, 2013
GENEVA — A shortage of cocoa has led to higher prices for chocolate, at a time when emerging-market demand is rising fast....
Cui bono?
Because of poor yields lately in producer countries like Ivory Coast, and a trend toward chocolate with a higher cocoa content, the global supply of cocoa has not kept up with demand....
Not that the market for premium Swiss chocolate is particularly price-sensitive....
Chocolate confectionery is big business, providing more than 4,000 jobs in Switzerland alone last year and earning $1.8 billion in revenue, nearly half of it in exports, according to industry data. And those figures, which count big producers like Nestlé, do not include artisanal chocolatiers like Pascoët and scores of others in Geneva, Zurich, and other cities.
Worldwide, though, the supply of chocolate cannot keep pace with people’s appetite, analysts say, because of the cocoa shortage. Betting that prices will continue to rise, investors are flocking to cocoa futures....
While there are more factors in chocolate’s price than just cocoa, a shift in tastes toward dark chocolate is helping drive the cost increase....
Cocoa comes from mostly poor countries near the equator, led by Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Indonesia.
The cocoa shortage stems partly from falling yields in Ivory Coast, where investment has been insufficient and rains unaccommodating. Nestlé, which also makes mass-market chocolate like its Crunch and Kit-Kat bars, is the biggest consumer of cocoa, and has to worry more than most about supply.
José Lopez, executive vice president, is confident the market will solve the shortage through higher prices, as farmers who might otherwise switch to rubber or palm oil trees step up their cocoa production. Keeping supply and demand in balance will take some doing, however. One looming problem may be global warming, which some studies suggest will further reduce production as drier growing seasons reduce yields.
Time to go skiing because in more ways than one I no longer have the power to talk about it.
Everything is now blamed on global fart mist.
But the biggest challenge may be the global market. Western chocolate consumption is growing slowly, but emerging markets are booming. China’s 1.3 billion people, for example, each eat just 44 grams of cocoa each year. But the market is expanding fast, especially among the newly wealthy.
--more--"
A cigar-flavored treat is “a chocolate that should be eaten in its context,” I'm told.
Maybe you would like a beer to wash it down?
Kate Baker and Suzanne Schalow, partners in life as well as business
Came right back up along with the agenda.
Nevertheless, Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night.
