The Price of Chocolate Surging: Cocoa Beans at All-Time High

This seems to be a supply and demand problem at its worst.

With an international cocoa bean shortage, chocolate prices are on target to hit an all-time high of $12.25 per kilogram – a 45% increase since 2007.

This is the first time in three years that the world's cocoa bean supply is expected to fall short of demand. Experts blame the situation on unusually dry weather in West Africa, where the majority of the beans are produced.

The problem is that people are eating more dark chocolate than ever before. Making that awful stuff takes more beans than it does to make that tasty milk chocolate. In any case the cocoa market is fairly small at only $5.4 billion and if speculators get in on it in a big way we might see even more appreciation going forward. Luckily I like sour candy more than chocolate so it is a wash to me.