Price: “In 20 years chocolate will be like caviar”
The age of inexpensive chocolate may soon come to an end on the coming years as many cocoa farmers in West Africa which represents the principal cocoa growing region in the world continue to leave the business. The major evils is low salary, and a difficult growing cycle, have together taken much of the encouragement out of growing cocoa, sending many citizens to the city centers for better opportunities.
Experts predict that within two decades, chocolate prices could be so high as a result of shortages that the majority of consumers will be unable to afford it. And within six years from now some analysts forecast that cocoa prices will double and making it the most costly it has been in 30 years.
“In 20 years chocolate will be like caviar,” said John Mason, executive director and founder of Nature Conservation Research Council, to The Independent. “It will become so rare and so expensive that the average won’t be able to afford it.”
Cocoa trees are going to disappear on coming few years due to insufficient farmers to replant them. Naturally, cocoa farmers wait up to five years for a new cocoa crop to mature. But cocoa farmers usually receive low salary for this intense work, so to many it is hardly worth it to even bother with cocoa when other industries offer far greater incentives.
The consumption of chocolate is raise it up faster than Cocoa production and it’s not sustainable, these small holders earn just 80 cents a day, so there is no incentive to replant trees when they die off, and to wait up to five years for a new crop, and no younger generation around to do the replanting. The children of these African cocoa farmers are heading for the cities rather than undertake backbreaking work for such a small reward.
The good things are that farmers cultivate chocolate in other areas such as Caribbean, Asia and South America, where standards are more advanced and the salary scale is better. Many of them are involved in cooperatives that work out fair trade agreements with their buyers, and some others are working towards applying similar fair trader programs in Africa to ensure that farmers there also receive a fair wage, and that cocoa production continues. No matter what the Cacao cost raise in the near future still nine out of ten people like chocolate and consumed regularly. I
Chocolate and Your Health
Chocolate considered healthy benefits of stem from the antioxidant flavonoids. Since chocolate comes from the cacao plant, and cacao is extraordinarily rich in flavanols, a type of flavonoid phytochemical. Other plants rich in flavanols include tea, grapes, grapefruit, and wine. That sounds simple enough, but some forms of chocolate have a lot more flavonoids than others.
So the more nonfat cocoa solids a chocolate product contains, the more antioxidants it tends to contribute.
The fat found in the cacao bean:
Cacao beans contain some saturated fat, and most of it is stearic acid which studies have recommended doesn’t elevate blood cholesterol levels as much as other saturated fatty acids. The other fatty acids in cocoa butter are mono-unsaturated fat (considered a desirable fat) plus another saturated fat called palmitic fatty acid. But here’s where it gets confusing: chocolate products can have other types of fat added, like “milk fat” or “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil” or even coconut or palm oil (both naturally saturated oils), in addition to “cocoa butter.”
Some studies suggested that cocoa and chocolate may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by:
Anti-inflammation action
Lowering blood pressure
Decreasing LDL oxidation
Chocolate Industry:
For the industrial professionalism, particularly who used the chocolate as major product on their industry, hereunder a top five forecasts for the chocolate industry:
1. Sugar prices to fluctuate, especially beginning year 2012
2. Cocoa prices are believed to remain high
3. The quantity of cocoa used in chocolate will decline as confectionery companies look to cut costs
4. Retailers & Supermarkets averse to raise chocolate selling price to consumers, the size of chocolate sold could decrease as manufacturer try to hit high profit margins.
5. Demand for cocoa and chocolate products to augment as countries such as India, China and Japan further embrace chocolate culture.
New and unique innovations in chocolate.
The enormous demand for functional foods with health benefits has led Barry Callebaut to build up a variety of chocolate applications based on inventive research that goes ‘back to the bean’.
ACTICOA is a individual and unique production process offering numerous possibilities for chocolate, cocoa and chocolate drinks. It is designed to preserve the high amount of polyphenols, naturally present in the cocoa bean, in the finished chocolate.
Humanizing the nutritional profile of chocolate in a natural way, making chocolate more acceptable for the end consumer. By reducing and harmonizing sugar and fat in the final recipe, the company has succeeded in offering chocolate with an improved nutritional profile for a range of chocolate applications and is the first to launch chocolate with Probiotics.
