Some cocoa industry experts think that rising demand for the cocoa beans that go into making our chocolate will lead to a worldwide shortage of cocoa within five years. It could mean you pay more for your 3pm chocolate fix, bars get smaller or – choc horror – chocolate could disappear altogether.
A big reason for this is that there aren’t enough younger people going into cocoa farming. Growing and harvesting the cocoa is physically demanding and the current generation of cocoa famers are coming up to retirement. Young people don’t see a future in it for themselves, having seen their parents struggle for years on very low incomes.
Find out more at the Fairtrade Foundation: http://goodbye.fairtrade.org.uk
SUSSED stocks a mouth watering range of Divine chocolate (including an advent calendar for Christmas). Divine Chocolate is the only mainstream chocolate company owned by the farmers who supply its cocoa – so they share Divine profits as well as receiving the Fairtrade price for their cocoa. Kuapa Kokoo cooperative of cocoa farmers in Ghana are Divine’s largest shareholder with a 44% share in the company. It means they benefit from the additional income from Fairtrade premiums, but also the profit, knowledge and power that company ownership brings
Divine Chocolate at SUSSED