The price of chocolate could leap due to a worldwide shortage of cocoa beans, experts predict.
Manufacturers may have to increase the use of nuts and other ingredients to bulk out bars if the extra capacity is not found.
A growing taste for cocoa in China, rising demand for dark chocolate and an awareness of its health benefits are forcing up demand.
Earlier this year he warned of a shortage of ‘certified’ cocoa, meaning ethically farmed beans.
No chocolate is kept in here overnight
Now concerns have also arisen over the sustainability of non-certified beans.
Mr Kennedy said: ‘Now we are saying it doesn’t matter what you call it – there’s not enough.’
Within eight years a shortage of one million tons of cocoa has been predicted, unless vast areas are set aside to farm it.
An area the size of the Ivory Coast will need to be cultivated to satisfy demand.
Dark chocolate has recently been considered the ‘healthier’ of the chocolates, with high levels of flavonoid antioxidants; it has also been found to lower blood pressure.
Chocolate manufacturers have been happy to encourage the trend, as dark chocolate is also a higher-margin product.
The country is the world’s biggest producer, farming 46 per cent of the worldwide total of three million tons.
Chocolate makers may have to increase the use of nuts and other ingredients to bulk out chocolate bars, if enough extra capacity is not found.
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