Wondering if there is really a shortage of chocolate......

Never a shortage at my house.

They were just discussing this on MSNBC.......

Apparently there won't be a shortage of bad chocolate......just good.

On 11/22/2014 ShowMe said:

They were just discussing this on MSNBC.......

Apparently there won't be a shortage of bad chocolate......just good.

Yep. The manufacturers will 'water' down candy bars

I heard about this last Spring. Chocolate is expected to rise dramatically in price due to a large shortage. It remains to be see. I think it will be available to those wanting to pay the high price.

After reading this article, it sounds to me as though there's no real "shortage." It appears to be price fixing:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2014/11/22/that-great-chocolate-shortage-of-course-its-bad-...

More:

"Despite reports that the world's supply of cocoa is running thin, you may not need to worry about stockpiling your chocolate reserves quite yet.

Candy manufacturers Mars Inc. and Barry Callebaut recently warned that consumer demand for chocolate will exceed cocoa supply by 2020, creating a gap in supply and demand of 1 million metric tons, according to a Bloomberg report.

The predicted shortage is attributed to myriad factors such as "disease, drought, rapacious new markets and the displacement of cacao by more-productive crops such as corn and rubber," Bloomberg reported.

However, the International Cocoa Organization, a global group made up of cocoa producing and consuming countries, told USA TODAY Network that the prediction is not correct.

While acknowledging there are problems that could affect production, small deficits and surpluses in cocoa supply are normal, according to Michael Segal, spokesman for the organization, which forecasts cocoa supply and production. The organization is not predicting anything out of the ordinary for the next five years.

"What we're looking at is a very tight close relationship between production and consumption. There might be a small, fairly insignificant deficit or a small, fairly insignificant surplus," he said.

And as for the 1-million metric ton deficit?

"Our most recent predictions and forecasts are not showing anything of the kind," Segal said."

link: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/11/17/chocolate-shortage-2020/19167089/

Yeah, just like there was a shortage of gas back in the 70s. It's all about the almighty dollar.

Chocolate is grown in regions of Africa affected by ebola. This years crop may not be picked.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/chocolate-casualty-ebola-outbreak/story?id=25863442