V-day Chocolate?

I noticed today while at Fresh Market a Valentine's display....full of an assortment of chocolates- Lindt, Ghirardelli to name a couple brands...and of course Valentines day Pez, suckers etc.

The display of chocolate made me really start thinking about what a coworker told me at work this week! I was notified of the increase in chocolate prices! We immediately started to plan our attack and how to get a emergency supply of chocolate before these price hikes took effect!!!

So, I googled it- "Chocolate prices"...

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Dispatch/ChocolatePricesSoar.aspx

Three million tons of cocoa, worth $5.1 billion, are produced around the world each year. More than 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolates are sold for Valentine's Day, according to the Chocolate Manufacturers Association.

Hershey (HSY, news, msgs) warned just two weeks ago that it was raising the price of its chocolate bars because of rising prices for commodities, including milk and cocoa. "Our products include far more pure milk chocolate and solid chocolate than our competitors," Hershey spokesman Kirk Saville told The Associated Press at the time.

Cadbury Schweppes (CSG, news, msgs) has also warned about rising cocoa prices. We "have recently implemented price increases in many of our confectionery markets to offset continued sharp rises in food commodity costs," the company said in a December 2007 press release.

"It is inevitable that some chocolate prices will go up to compensate for very significant increases in costs," the company's finance director Ken Hanna said in December. Hershey shares have fallen 9% over past three months; Cadbury is down 6% over the same period.

A year ago, analysts were fretting that the world chocolate supply would be threatened by both climate and political shifts in Africa.A year ago, analysts were fretting that the world chocolate supply would be threatened by both climate and political shifts in Africa.

But in fact, the current price surge is due less to supply issues than to market forces, explained Alaron's Cruel.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/business&id=7775585

If you have a sweet tooth, this won't be sweet news to you. Chocolate is getting more expensive.

There's a shortage building for the past six years. The main reason - farmers in West Africa have little incentive to plant cocoa trees. They take three years to mature and growers earn less than a $1 a day selling to big corporations.

One expert says in 20 years, the average joe won't be able to afford chocolate unless new research into growing higher-yielding trees prove fruitful.

http://kstp.com/news/stories/S1942398.shtml?cat=1

Politics half way around the world could affect the price you pay for chocolate. Political unrest in the Ivory Coast has led the country's leader to call for a ban on cocoa bean exports from the world's largest cocoa producer.

Local chocolate shops say they'll feel the effects of the ban even if they don't use beans from the Ivory Coast. Chocolate retailers say their costs have already gone up significantly over the past few years.

Some stores have had to raise prices. Other shops say they'll keep prices steady but make smaller size chocolates to deal with the rising cost of cocoa.

So...Will you buy chocolate or "Sweethearts"?

Or use leftover candy canes for your sweeties present?