The bittersweet truth behind surging chocolate prices

The cost of cocoa has rocketed to more than NZ$8,880 a tonne, beating a record price that had stood for 46 years. (Image: NZME)

Bloomberg

Sun, 25 Feb 2024

By Javier Blas The evening I learned the unspoken truth about the cocoa market, I was in Yamoussoukro, the colossal capital city of Ivory Coast.“The problem with cocoa is that’s a poor man’s crop,” explained my dining companion, a government official-turned-businessman. “Do you see any commercial plantation around here? No,” he said. “And do you know why? Because prices aren’t high enough.”Only because millions of West African farmers saw cocoa as their only way to escape abject poverty...

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