A spike in global cacao prices made worse by climate change is putting pressure on B.C. chocolate companies and the farmers they rely on
On a recent overcast day, Emmanuel Essah-Mensah walked through his two-hectare farm in the heart of Ghana’s cacao belt.
“We here in West Africa are absolutely feeling the impacts of climate change — severely,” he said. “It’s causing a great decline in cacao.” Daniel Terry and his wife founded the island factory in 1998 as the first organic chocolate company in Canada. In the decades since, Terry says chocolate prices have remained remarkably stable.
In addition to drought, the report found that over the past decade, climate change has raised temperatures above 32 C — the optimal temperature to grow cacao trees — for a total of six weeks across West Africa’s four heavyweight cacao-producing countries. Those in the craft chocolate-making business say the spike in cacao prices has hit their margins even harder.
Within months, the cost to produce a bar of chocolate went up 50 per cent. That cut the company’s margins in half. Paying rent, maintaining operations and still leaving money to innovate became increasingly difficult. “I tried to find other cocoa that maybe was a cheaper price, but similar quality, and it took me four months. I didn’t find anything that was just as tasty and that also has our business values,” Mennicken said.
To reverse the decline in cacao production, they have turned to incorporating more natural forests and other crops throughout their farms. The practice, known as agroforestry, offers a chance to grow other cash crops and vegetables to eat at home.
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