sustainable cocoa could run out by 2014

[zeitgeist]

Now this could be a real problem.

Will there be a chocolate drought? World’s supply of sustainable cocoa could run out by 2014
By Simon Watkins And Jo Thornhill
Last updated at 9:04 AM on 28th January 2011


 No-go: Fairtrade training schemes for farmers have ground to a halt because of political unrest in Africa
The world faces a chocolate ‘drought’ over the next few years, an expert warned yesterday.

Political unrest in the Ivory Coast, where 40 per cent of the world’s cocoa beans are grown, has ‘significantly’ depleted the number of certified fair trade cocoa farmers.
Many have fled the West ­African country, while fair trade training programmes have also come to a halt.
Fairtrade training programmes have ground to a halt because of the danger farmers face in rural areas.
The situation is already affecting chocolate manufacturers, who are facing the highest cocoa prices for over 30 years.
Prices jumped by 10 per cent this month alone. Analysts are predicting they could soon hit $3,720 per metric tonne - a level last seen in January 1979.
It follows a curb on international cocoa exports initiated earlier this week by the country's new president,  Alassane Ouattara.

Angus Kennedy, the editor of Kennedy's Confection and a leading British chocolatier, said chocolate producers are facing 'one of the biggest challenges to hit the industry in recent history'.
'Supplies of sustainable cocoa are set to run out, it's that simple,' he said.
 Drying up: Ivory Coast cocoa supplies are under threat after many farmers have fled the country
'The Ivory Coast is a complete no-go area for cocoa traders as it's too dangerous, so training new farmers and trying to cut problems in the region is now, mostly impossible.
'So in effect, its sustainability is not sustainable. Prices can't go up as it's reported because there basically isn't enough certified cocoa left to sell.'
Of the world's 5.5 million cocoa farmers, only 10 per cent have been trained and certified as sustainable fair-trade producers.
The certification is granted by specially-trained teachers, and the course runs for up to three years.
But the political turmoil in Ivory Coast means both the farmers and trainers are fleeing the country, leaving a severe shortage of certified cocoa beans.
Even if the political situation improves, it could take three years or more for the number of certified fair-trade farmers to reach its former level.
According to Mr Kennedy, manufacturers are now fighting for the rest of the world's sustainable cocoa bean stock.
'Things could get nasty now as producers start to fight over the last stocks,' he added.




Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1351066/Will-chocolate-drought-World-s-supply-sustainable-cocoa-run-2014.html#ixzz1CN4BcXy6

Valentines day would never be the same !!!11!!!

What is the first Buffoon O'balmy doing to rectify this drastic problem??  Where is State??   

[rich_t]

Oh crap!!!!

Women with chocolate withdrawls ain't gonna be pretty for us men to deal with.

[debk]

I've been stockpiling chocolate chips in all flavors.

And M&M's.

 

[zeitgeist]

I've been stockpiling chocolate chips in all flavors.

And M&M's.

 

I posted this just for you debk.

There is no bad chocolate ( ok, I am not partial to dark unsweetened unless desperate).

[Rebel]

We'll all be dead by December 2012 anyway so what does it matter?

[JohnnyReb]

I've been stockpiling chocolate chips in all flavors.

And M&M's.

 

The shortage is caused by DUmmies...some DUmmies got a job at the M&M factory....they were sorting M&M's by alphabetical order ...they were eating all those stamped W&W.

[zeitgeist]

We'll all be dead by December 2012 anyway so what does it matter?

Oh yeah?  Bring a liberal chick non-sustainable chocolate valentine hearta and you'll be dead even quicker than that.

[Evil_Conservative]

I'm going to stockpile chocolate.  Chocolate is important to any woman who is feeling kind of bitchy.  Sometimes if I don't satisfy my chocolate cravings, I feel like strangling someone.

[RightCoast]

Dude if I don't get my chocolate somebody's going down.

[Ballygrl]

I've been stockpiling chocolate chips in all flavors.

And M&M's.

 

I love M&M's, but my new favorite is the peanut butter M&M's.

[IassaFTots]

I don't like chocolate much. 

[RightCoast]

I love M&M's, but my new favorite is the peanut butter M&M's.

Ever try peanut butter Oreos?

[Ballygrl]

Ever try peanut butter Oreos?

No, I never saw them in the grocery store, but you can't beat the chocolate/peanut butter combo so I assume they're good?

[debk]

I don't like chocolate much. 

You ain't right!   


My name is Deb and I am addicted to chocolate. I belong in a 12 step program. 

I eat M&M's every night before going to bed....they are like sleeping pills for me. (real sleeping pills wire me up for about 24 hours!)

I was so addicted to chocolate chip cookies the last trimester of both pregnancies, it was ridiculous!!! We moved 6 wks before my first was born and I had already hit almost 40lb weight gain and the doctor was concerned, so he was having me come at least 2x a week. There was a chocolate chip cookie factory between our apartment and the doctor's office. I'd stop on my way back home for a dozen warm ones. They were usually gone by the time I got to the apartment. I put on another 40lbs those last 6 weeks...it wasn't pretty.    Did the same with my son, only he was 2.5wks early so I only packed on 30 in the last trimester.

My daughter loves chocolate. She wanted chocolate chip cookies her entire pregnancy - with both. Both her kids love chocolate.

My son will very rarely eat anything chocolate. Doesn't like chocolate milk, hot cocoa, chocolate cake, chocoalte candy. He will once in a while eat homemade brownies or Oreos. He ain't right either!!

[IassaFTots]

You ain't right!   


My name is Deb and I am addicted to chocolate. I belong in a 12 step program. 

I eat M&M's every night before going to bed....they are like sleeping pills for me. (real sleeping pills wire me up for about 24 hours!)

I was so addicted to chocolate chip cookies the last trimester of both pregnancies, it was ridiculous!!! We moved 6 wks before my first was born and I had already hit almost 40lb weight gain and the doctor was concerned, so he was having me come at least 2x a week. There was a chocolate chip cookie factory between our apartment and the doctor's office. I'd stop on my way back home for a dozen warm ones. They were usually gone by the time I got to the apartment. I put on another 40lbs those last 6 weeks...it wasn't pretty.    Did the same with my son, only he was 2.5wks early so I only packed on 30 in the last trimester.

My daughter loves chocolate. She wanted chocolate chip cookies her entire pregnancy - with both. Both her kids love chocolate.

My son will very rarely eat anything chocolate. Doesn't like chocolate milk, hot cocoa, chocolate cake, chocoalte candy. He will once in a while eat homemade brownies or Oreos. He ain't right either!!

I know.  I still have easter chocolate in my fridge.  I threw away 2009 Christmas Chocolate, when I bought 2010 Christmas Chocolate.  When it is really cold, I like a hot chocolate.  I have a Starbucks instant, that when mixed with milk tastes just the same.  (Bought at Home Goods.)  I make brownies for the BF and every once in a while I will have a little slice.  I have a box of Thin Mints, and one of Samoas in my fridge from last year, not opened, and just ordered more from my GS neighbor.   

[debk]

I know.  I still have easter chocolate in my fridge.  I threw away 2009 Christmas Chocolate, when I bought 2010 Christmas Chocolate.  When it is really cold, I like a hot chocolate.  I have a Starbucks instant, that when mixed with milk tastes just the same.  (Bought at Home Goods.)  I make brownies for the BF and every once in a while I will have a little slice.  I have a box of Thin Mints, and one of Samoas in my fridge from last year, not opened, and just ordered more from my GS neighbor.   

As much as I love chocolate...I'm a real picky chocolate eater.

I'd rather eat an almond Hershey bar, than have a box of Godiva.

I don't like Starbucks hot chocolate. RB and I hit there every Saturday (she hits it every day) and I really like their Double Chocolate-y Chip Frappacino, but to me their hot chocolate has a coffee aftertaste to it. They put 4 squirts of chocolate in their hot chocolate, and I've tried it with 3 and with 2, and I still taste coffee. (I detest coffee, mocha flavor, all of it - even the smell)

Pilot has the best hot chocolate especially with a bit of half and half or French Vanilla Coffee Creamer in it....but the calorie count on it is in the stratosphere!!

I tried McDonald's this year for the first time, and it's really quite good. Lot less calories too! But they only have it, if it's a "stand alone" MickeyD's. If they are with Pilot, or some other gas station, they don't have it.

[zeitgeist]

As much as I love chocolate...I'm a real picky chocolate eater.

I'd rather eat an almond Hershey bar, than have a box of Godiva.

I don't like Starbucks hot chocolate. RB and I hit there every Saturday (she hits it every day) and I really like their Double Chocolate-y Chip Frappacino, but to me their hot chocolate has a coffee aftertaste to it. They put 4 squirts of chocolate in their hot chocolate, and I've tried it with 3 and with 2, and I still taste coffee. (I detest coffee, mocha flavor, all of it - even the smell)

Pilot has the best hot chocolate especially with a bit of half and half or French Vanilla Coffee Creamer in it....but the calorie count on it is in the stratosphere!!

I tried McDonald's this year for the first time, and it's really quite good. Lot less calories too! But they only have it, if it's a "stand alone" MickeyD's. If they are with Pilot, or some other gas station, they don't have it.

I live just down the lane from the Lindt factory outlet.  Ummmmmmmm truffle seconds.  I have tried for the bag filling record but have never even come close.  (They use to allow you all you could fit in a bag for $9.99, some people were really good, stretching the bags using a fist / knuckle technique I never quite mastered).

We did a trip to Hershey ( not really, just to see the Hershey Gardens, honest).  Love the smell.   Can't wait until I can get 'chocolate mulch'  it smells great and is a wonderful mulch.

[debk]

I live just down the lane from the Lindt factory outlet.  Ummmmmmmm truffle seconds.  I have tried for the bag filling record but have never even come close.  (They use to allow you all you could fit in a bag for $9.99, some people were really good, stretching the bags using a fist / knuckle technique I never quite mastered).

We did a trip to Hershey ( not really, just to see the Hershey Gardens, honest).  Love the smell.   Can't wait until I can get 'chocolate mulch'  it smells great and is a wonderful mulch.

Lindt truffles.....oh yum. ****sigh****

The chocolate mulch...is that what they do with the cocoa shell/pods? How wonderful!! 

There's a Russell Stover outlet just off I40 going into Sevierville/Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, and another one on I75 just off either Loudon or Lenoir City...I'm in between either one.

I've bought their boxes of seconds a couple of times. It's about $9 for 3-4 pounds, but all the box will say is Milk Chocolate, Dark or Mixed and whether or not there are nuts in some. There's nothing wrong with them, but you just never know what's going to be in the box. It could be a good mix, or just 4 or 5 different things. It's pretty random. I can't have them around though...I will eat all the ones I like right away.

Since I've lost all this weight this fall, outside of the stuff I made for Christmas which is finally gone(thank God!!)...I've been trying to stick to just my daily M&M's with an occasional Hershey Almond bar, and my once a week Chocolate Chip frappacino.

RB told me yesterday that she's gone through 2 bags of Lindt's truffles in the last week or so. I don't buy them except to keep in a crystal biscuit jar in the living room - the wrappers match the room.  I tell myself they are too stale to eat. However, in a pinch.....

[zeitgeist]

Lindt truffles.....oh yum. ****sigh****

The chocolate mulch...is that what they do with the cocoa shell/pods? How wonderful!!  

There's a Russell Stover outlet just off I40 going into Sevierville/Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, and another one on I75 just off either Loudon or Lenoir City...I'm in between either one.

I've bought their boxes of seconds a couple of times. It's about $9 for 3-4 pounds, but all the box will say is Milk Chocolate, Dark or Mixed and whether or not there are nuts in some. There's nothing wrong with them, but you just never know what's going to be in the box. It could be a good mix, or just 4 or 5 different things. It's pretty random. I can't have them around though...I will eat all the ones I like right away.

Since I've lost all this weight this fall, outside of the stuff I made for Christmas which is finally gone(thank God!!)...I've been trying to stick to just my daily M&M's with an occasional Hershey Almond bar, and my once a week Chocolate Chip frappacino.

RB told me yesterday that she's gone through 2 bags of Lindt's truffles in the last week or so. I don't buy them except to keep in a crystal biscuit jar in the living room - the wrappers match the room.   I tell myself they are too stale to eat. However, in a pinch.....

Their specials haven't been as good as they were years ago, but, when I get an urge I can do some real damage by buying in bulk.  So it isn't wrapped fancy, who cares?  Not properly labeled? Who cares?  

I have heard that Lindt will be processing cocoa here so I may stand a shot at getting some of the pod mulch.  Talk about driving the neighbors crazy, that should do it.   I wonder how he cats and insects will react.



I was serious about going to Hershey Gardens. It is spectacular if you like roses. 

[Airwolf]

[DefiantSix]

Note that the article said it's only the "sustainable", "fair trade" cocoa that's being impacted.  Those South American cocoa plantations that produce the other 60% of the world's cocoa supply at far more realistic prices will remain unaffected.

Crisis averted, except for those leftist twits that feel the need to inflate the prices of shit by paying "fair trade" pricing.  [/capitialist robber-baron mode]

[zeitgeist]

Note that the article said it's only the "sustainable", "fair trade" cocoa that's being impacted.  Those South American cocoa plantations that produce the other 60% of the world's cocoa supply at far more realistic prices will remain unaffected.

Crisis averted, except for those leftist twits that feel the need to inflate the prices of shit by paying "fair trade" pricing.  [/capitialist robber-baron mode]

The wise male brings blood free diamonds and sustainable chocolates lest he find his testicles substituted for his tonsils.    

(of course even a liberal woman with no diamonds or chocolate might be tempted to succumb to temptation)

[bijou]

Note that the article said it's only the "sustainable", "fair trade" cocoa that's being impacted.  Those South American cocoa plantations that produce the other 60% of the world's cocoa supply at far more realistic prices will remain unaffected.

Crisis averted, except for those leftist twits that feel the need to inflate the prices of shit by paying "fair trade" pricing.  [/capitialist robber-baron mode]

I was just thinking that there would actually be plenty of capitalist cocoa around for the rest of us. Panic over!

[BlueStateSaint]

(of course even a liberal woman with no diamonds or chocolate might be tempted to succumb to temptation)

The thing is, a liberal woman might succumb to a lot less chocolate than a conservative woman would!

[rich_t]

The wise male brings blood free diamonds and sustainable chocolates lest he find his testicles substituted for his tonsils.    

(of course even a liberal woman with no diamonds or chocolate might be tempted to succumb to temptation)

When was the last time you asked for proof that a diamond you were given is blood free?