Bad news for those who were planning to give their significant other on Valentine's Day box of chocolates — now it may cost you much more money than you expected.
As The Wall Street Journal reported, chocolate manufacturers are now experiencing an unprecedented shortage of cocoa, without which not a single chocolate bar or chocolate heart: bad weather conditions and agricultural machinery are to blame. This news is especially depressing given the increased demand for chocolate in recent years.
Manufacturers warn that chocolate may soon become not only expensive (prices have jumped by forty percent since 2012), but also an extremely rare pleasure. In light of this grim outlook, Hershey's, Mars and Mondelez are planning to allocate about a billion dollars to solve this problem: the money will be used to finance projects specializing in case studies and the development of new equipment.
Additionally , the cost of Lindt, Nestle and Hershey products has increased significantly: add to this soaring sugar prices, and we get an unprecedented rise in the price of good old chocolate.
Unfortunately, in the future we may face not only a shortage of chocolate products : According to experts, we will face a coffee shortage within the next three years if appropriate measures are not taken.
source: foxnews.com
photo: flickr.com/Lee McCoy
