Spain: Drought and reduction in cultivated area boost the price of chocolate in the Canary Islands

Published Nov 24, 2024

Tridge summary

A severe drought and a decrease in cultivated land have led to a significant increase in cocoa prices, which is soon to be passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices for chocolate products. The situation is worsened by the upcoming European Union regulation that requires cocoa imports to be sourced from plantations that have been in operation since 2020, in an effort to combat deforestation. The lack of a platform to upload the required orthophotos and the ongoing abandoning of agricultural farms due to low pay are adding to the challenges in the cocoa industry. The situation is further complicated by climate change, over-taking of farms for gold mining, and the emergence of more harmful strains of the cocoa swollen shoot disease, leading to a 30% drop in production and a surge in the price of cocoa paste. Producers anticipate that the situation will only worsen, affecting both the chocolate industry and consumers.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

The drought and a drastic reduction in cultivated land have caused an increase in cocoa prices that has not yet been fully transferred to the shelves of Canary Island supermarkets. It will happen, and when it does, the cost of a bar of chocolate for the end customer will skyrocket by between 30% and 50%, depending on the amount of raw material required for its production, according to several island producers. Next Christmas, giving chocolate from La Isleña, Tirma or La Candelaria, for example, will require a little less of a spare resource and will be closer to luxury. In addition, on the first day of next year, the European Union (EU) requirement to certify that all imported cocoa – which also applies to coffee and other raw materials – comes from plantations that have been operational since at least 2020 will come into force. This fight against deforestation launched by Brussels “overwhelms” the sector a little more. The communications sent to the European Commission (EC) ...

Source: Lne