Climate change and diseases have resulted in a shortage of the global supply of cacao, leading to a surge in prices. Alberta specialty chocolate stores are forced to raise prices as the global cocoa prices surge to record levels.
Recently, there has been a push from cacao farmers for better liveable wages as well. In October 2023, Reuters reported that Ivory Coast raised the farm gate prices — price at which agricultural products are sold by farmers at the point of production — by 11 per cent and Ghana raised their farm gate prices by 63 per cent.
Sven Anders, professor of agriculture economics at the University of Alberta, said because cocoa production happens in such a concentrated region, any environmental risk has a huge impact on the supply. Two-thirds of the world's cocoa production comes from West Africa, specifically Ivory Coast and Ghana.
Brian Beck, president of Cocoa Community Confections, a chocolaterie based in Calgary, was at the World Cocoa Foundation meeting that took place in Amsterdam on Feb. 7. He told CBC'sthat although the meeting was about sustainability in the industry, there were behind the scenes conversations on the price hikes.