Radio | News week in plain Finnish | Sunday 20.4.2025

Will climate change take away our chocolate?

Climate change threatens chocolate.

The important raw material for chocolate is the cocoa bean, and cocoa bean yields have declined due to climate change.

It has been estimated that cocoa farming could end in the world by 2050.

Now we will tell you more about it.

Cocoa yields are declining

Climate change threatens cocoa farming.

Most of the world’s cocoa is grown in West Africa, Ghana and Ivory Coast. Ivory Coast is the world’s largest producer of cocoa beans, growing almost half of the world’s cocoa.

However, cocoa yields have deteriorated due to climate change. Climate change has increased extreme weather events such as drought and heavy rains. It has also brought with it plant diseases.

The cocoa tree needs consistent conditions, with consistent heat and humidity.

Chocolate is getting more expensive

The world produces about 5 million tons of cocoa per year. Half of that is imported to Europe, where it is used to make chocolate, for example.

The most chocolate is eaten in Switzerland, over 10 kilos per person per year. A Finn eats about 6 kilos of chocolate per year. In poor countries, chocolate is eaten only a little.

The price of cocoa on the world market has risen sharply in recent years due to poor harvests. This is also reflected in the price of chocolate. The price of chocolate has increased by about 25 percent in a year.

Can cocoa be replaced?

Climate change threatens to put an end to cocoa farming, which is why confectioners are looking for new ways to make chocolate.

For example, Fazer has experimented with making chocolate from rye malt.

The VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland is investigating whether cocoa beans can be grown in the laboratory using cell culture. It seems that it can.

Repetition

The topic of this week’s news was cocoa farming and chocolate. Let’s recap a few things.

The cocoa bean is the main raw material for chocolate.

Cocoa yields have declined due to climate change.

Due to poor harvests, the price of chocolate has risen sharply.

Chocolate manufacturers are looking for new ways to replace cocoa in chocolate making.

Fazer has already made chocolate from rye malt.

It may also be that in the future, cocoa beans can be grown using cell culture.

That’s all for today. See you again next week.