Easter 2024: This year the chocolate eggs

The main reason we will put a deeper hand in the pocket this year to buy the chocolate favourites. Chocolate Easter eggs, which are one of Easter’s favorite sweets, will cost more this year, according to researchers and the cause is climate change that affects crops. Most chocolate is made from which it is grown in West Africa, but a heat wave has dissolved the crops, mass reducing the yields, reports . As reported in the report, cacaotrees are particularly vulnerable to climate change. They grow only in a narrow zone of about 20 degrees wide around Ecuador, with most of the production concentrated in West Africa. However, since February this region has been hit by heat waves, which in countries such as Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana have broken a record even surpassing 40 degrees Celsius. High temperatures increased the exhaust rate, leaving cocoa crops without sufficient moisture. The situation this year also exacerbated a strong phenomenon El Niño active since last June, raising temperatures worldwide and can lead to extreme weather phenomena But drought is not the only factor affecting cocoa growers. Last December, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana experienced heavy rainfall. In fact, the total rainfall in West Africa was more than twice the average of 30 years for this time. Humidity allowed the development of a fungal infection, which rotting the cocoa beans in the trees. Tripled cocoa prices The lack of cocoa due to the heat caused prices to eject to nearly $8,500 per tonne this week. The price of cocoa has tripled since last year and doubled only in the last three months. Chocolate producers usually buy grain months earlier, but rapid price increases are now beginning to affect shop prices. As early as February Mondelez, the company to which the Cadbury brand belongs, and the American chocolate industry Hershey had already warned that raising cocoa prices could lead to an increase in the price of chocolate. Experts warn that man-made climate change has made extreme heat 10 times more likely. The study of the World Weather Attribution group, based at Imperial College, London, found that if the world does not quickly reduce fossil fuel use, West Africa will experience similar heat waves about every two years. Information from BBC