Chocolate prices – The daily blog of behavioral and cognitive economics

When Chocolate Is An Elasticity Story

We can thank the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire for chocolate: But they are also one reason for rising prices. The price of chocolate starts with the cocoa bean crop. First Côte d’Ivoire’s weather was too wet and then it became too dry. Next, yields sunk further because of black pod disease and older trees past their prime. One prediction suggests an 11% production drop. Then, perpetuating the price trajectory, speculators are further boosting cocoa futures. During the past year, cocoa bean prices went up by a whopping 150%.Looking ahead, the industry expects the amount we will demand to exceed the quantity of global cocoa production by as much as 330,000 metric tons. ….[READ]