Say goodbye to chocolate: The price of cocoa is about to hit a new all-time high! [UPDATE: New ATH reached in Feb. 2024]

[cbight]

Cocoa Prices Hit 46-Year High As Drought Concerns Threaten West African Crops

Cocoa prices climbed to a 46-year high this week in New York as concerns mount that seasonal Harmattan winds across West Africa could dry cocoa fields and reduce yields for the Ivory Coast's mid-crop in April. This would pressure global cocoa production even further.



Bloomberg reports the most active cocoa futures jumped as much as 2.2% to $4,961 per ton in New York. Prices are up 126% since Sept. 2022, threatening to raise costs for the world's top chocolate makers, such as The Hershey Company.

According to Donald Keeney, senior meteorologist at Maxar Technologies Inc., average temperatures across West Africa are 2 degrees Celsius above normal for the next few weeks. He said the region was "a lot drier and warmer than usual for the past month" and will continue this trend, adding that the Harmattan "is certainly a bit stronger than usual this year."



Ivory Coast is the world's largest cocoa producer, and lower production has been a major bullish catalyst for soaring cocoa prices.

On Monday, the Ivory Coast government said farmers shipped 1 MMT of cocoa to ports from October 1 to January 28, down 36% from the same period last year.

A week ago, the Ivory Coast cocoa regulator, Le Conseil Cafe-Cacao, halted forward cocoa sales for the 2024/25 season due to sliding cocoa production.

This has also fueled worries that the current level of cocoa production will be unable to restock supplies and prevent a worldwide shortfall of the bean, widely used in candy.

Last month, Jonathan Parkman, the head of agricultural sales at Marex Group, warned: "I don't think we've seen the worst of the situation for consumers." He means the worst of 'candyflation' has yet to be realized.

https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/c ... rica-crops

[jcd]

Poorfags on suicide watch

[maidenhaver]

There is no chocolate in American chocolate.

[cbight]

Poorfags on suicide watch

The problem is they can't raise the prices indefinitely which is why they started reducing the amount of cocoa instead a few years ago, so most chocolate products taste like shit already...

[maidenhaver]

Poorfags on suicide watch

The problem is they can't raise the prices indefinitely which is why they started reducing the amount of cocoa instead a few years ago, so most chocolate products taste like shit already...

Yeah, it used to be soy bean oil with a little chocolate, now its jusy soy bean oil.

[Vaako]

As long as I get my bananas with peanut butter I will survive.

[Segata]

Chocolate makes you have thick shits that are hard to clean.

[rusty_shackleford]

don't particularly care for chocolate

[jcd]

Poorfags on suicide watch

The problem is they can't raise the prices indefinitely which is why they started reducing the amount of cocoa instead a few years ago, so most chocolate products taste like shit already...

I only buy 95%-100% cocoa dark chocolate. Anything less is cattle fodder!

[Dead]

Chocolate tastes bad

[Segata]

Quarantine Americans in chocolate discussions

[rusty_shackleford]

hope you don't eat meat, because butyric acid is in most animal fats.
or drink milk, or eat anything with butter

[Segata]

Americans want everything to taste like burgers

[Gregz]

Quarantine Americans in chocolate discussions

Mind blown

[Acrux]

Americans want everything to taste like burgers

Yes

[Dead]

It tastes bad but it doesn't taste like vomit.

[KnightoftheWind]

I like chocolate, but if the price is going to rise dramatically I'll gladly switch to something else. Am I right, my fellow vanilla brothers?.

[rusty_shackleford]

Quarantine Americans in chocolate discussions

Mind blown

Why am I not surprised in the least that you'd believe a random claim on the internet?

[Gregz]

Quarantine Americans in chocolate discussions

Mind blown

Why am I not surprised in the least that you'd believe a random claim on the internet?

OK I didn't personally fact check this one, but the comments downthread on the linked image claimed to. Did you fact check this yourself? Citation on that?

[Gregz]

The sour notes in America's most popular chocolate are commonly attributed to butyric acid—a compound found in spoiled butter and, yes, vomit. Hershey denies adding it to their product, and the ingredient isn't listed on the label, but that doesn't mean it's not part of the recipe. Mar 3, 2023

[Gregz]

Problem with something like that is it damages their brand. So where do you go for reliable information? Who do you source?

[Gregz]

https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/why-a ... like-vomit

The sour notes in America’s most popular chocolate are commonly attributed to butyric acid—a compound found in spoiled butter and, yes, vomit. Hershey denies adding it to their product, and the ingredient isn’t listed on the label, but that doesn’t mean it’s not part of the recipe.

Butyric acid is also present in milk, so all chocolate made with dairy contains it in some amounts. It may be more perceptable in American chocolate due to how the milk is treated. A process known as lipolysis breaks down the fatty acids in fresh milk. This makes it shelf-stable while also producing more butyric acid—and with it a tangy, acrid aftertaste. Hershey has been accused of treating its milk through controlled lipolysis, but because its formula is proprietary, this is hard to confirm. (If lipolysis is part of the process, the “factory tour” ride outside Hershey Park doesn’t cover it.)

[rusty_shackleford]

Mind blown

Why am I not surprised in the least that you'd believe a random claim on the internet?

OK I didn't personally fact check this one, but the comments downthread on the linked image claimed to. Did you fact check this yourself? Citation on that?

https://www.google.com/search?q=butyric acid butter
https://www.google.com/search?q=butyric acid milk

does butter or milk taste like vomit to you?

[rusty_shackleford]

There's a dangerous chemical dihydrogen monoxide used in things like american milk, be careful of it.

[Gregz]

Why am I not surprised in the least that you'd believe a random claim on the internet?

OK I didn't personally fact check this one, but the comments downthread on the linked image claimed to. Did you fact check this yourself? Citation on that?

https://www.google.com/search?q=butyric acid butter
https://www.google.com/search?q=butyric acid milk

does butter or milk taste like vomit to you?

Trace elements and less than fresh ingredients vs. bad ingredients from cutting corners to beat the competition on price? Then the generational effect of growing up thinking that's how chocolate is supposed to taste? It's perfectly plausible.

[rusty_shackleford]

OK I didn't personally fact check this one, but the comments downthread on the linked image claimed to. Did you fact check this yourself? Citation on that?

https://www.google.com/search?q=butyric acid butter
https://www.google.com/search?q=butyric acid milk

does butter or milk taste like vomit to you?

Trace elements and less than fresh ingredients vs. bad ingredients from cutting corners to beat the competition on price? Then the generational effect of growing up thinking that's how chocolate is supposed to taste? It's perfectly plausible.

Where do you think the butyric acid in the chocolate comes from?

[maidenhaver]

If its American its vegetable oil. It isn't chocolate, hasn't been for years. This is why you never give farmers, universities, or biolabs power. They will dump their trash in the food supply. In ten years, all our burgers will be vegetable oil.

[Gregz]

I guess this is just more of rusty's jingoist knee-jerk simping for mother 'murica.

[Gregz]

https://www.google.com/search?q=butyric acid butter
https://www.google.com/search?q=butyric acid milk

does butter or milk taste like vomit to you?

Trace elements and less than fresh ingredients vs. bad ingredients from cutting corners to beat the competition on price? Then the generational effect of growing up thinking that's how chocolate is supposed to taste? It's perfectly plausible.

Where do you think the butyric acid in the chocolate comes from?

Rotten cheap dairy? Maybe the Europeans are right and that's gross?

[rusty_shackleford]

Trace elements and less than fresh ingredients vs. bad ingredients from cutting corners to beat the competition on price? Then the generational effect of growing up thinking that's how chocolate is supposed to taste? It's perfectly plausible.

Where do you think the butyric acid in the chocolate comes from?

Rotten cheap dairy? Maybe the Europeans are right and that's gross?

if milk and butter has butyric acid, what do you think might go into chocolate that would also cause it to have butyric acid?

hint:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/butyrum

the real difference is europeans just aren't used to our extremely low cacao chocolate