Whether you’re feeling a little flat or just need an energy boost to get through that next task, chocolate is often the solution.
If you’re an ‘average’ Aussie, you’re chomp your way through 5.1 kilograms of the stuff in a year.
But there’s a major – and growing – threat to the industry with one of the biggest manufacturers admitting it has a “big issue about reaching our target in terms of volumes”.
The problem is cocoa swollen shoot virus disease (CSSVD), which has become a major problem in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, which account for more than 60 per cent of global production.
Ghana reported in July that its 2021/22 cocoa crop fell by 35 per cent year-on-year.
Nestlé Cocoa Plan manager Nathan Bello says the disease is evolving and making industry insiders nervous.
“There’s no solution … we cannot cure it, we can just stop the expansion, but we do not really have a treatment,” he told news.com.
“It’s a threat and we don’t know to be honest what extent it’s going to affect the production in the country. Every year gets worse.”
Is it time to stock up just in case? Do you love chocolate?
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