Category Archives: Chocolate

Easter egg prices soar as cocoa crops are hit by climate crisis and exploitation

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Experts say the global shortage of the main ingredient of chocolate is linked to poor conditions for farmers supplying large companies

Every Easter, UK consumers collectively spend more than £1bn on food, drink, gifts, entertainment and about 80m chocolate eggs, racking up an average bill exceeding £50 each. But shoppers this year are paying more than usual: since last Easter, chocolate prices have increased by more than 12.6%, more than double the rise in supermarket food and drink prices.

The cost of cocoa, chocolate’s main ingredient, has been increasing all year, hitting a record high just before Valentine’s Day and again this week, when it was priced at more than $10,000 a tonne – meaning it is currently more valuable than several precious metals, and growing in value more quickly than bitcoin.

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Extortionate Easter eggs and shrinking sweets: fears grow of a ‘chocolate meltdown’

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Poor harvests in extreme weather conditions have led to a tripling of cocoa prices – but farmers have seen no benefit

Around the world this holiday weekend, people will consume hundreds of millions of Easter eggs and bunnies, as part of an annual chocolate intake that can exceed 8kg (18lb) for every person in the UK, or 5kg in the US and Europe. But a global shortage of cacao – the seed from which chocolate is made – has brought warnings of a “chocolate meltdown” that could see prices increase and bars shrink further.

This week, cocoa prices rose to all-time highs on commodity exchanges in London and New York, reaching more than $10,000 a tonne for the first time, after the third consecutive poor harvest in west Africa. Ghana and Ivory Coast, which together produce more than half of the global cacao crop, have been hit by extreme weather supercharged by the climate crisis and the El Niño weather phenomenon. This has been exacerbated by disease and underinvestment in ageing plantations.

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Pure imagination: Tasmanian premier vows to build world’s largest chocolate fountain if re-elected

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Liberal Jeremy Rockliff commits $12m and says ‘chocolate experience’ at Claremont would be ‘the greatest thing to happen to tourism since Mona’

Dubai is home to the world’s tallest skyscraper, Burj Khalifa. Nepal boasts Mount Everest. Soon, if Jeremy Rockliff gets his way, Tasmania could be home to the world’s largest chocolate fountain.

The Tasmanian premier on Sunday appeared to take inspiration from Willy Wonka by pitching himself to voters as the dreamer of dreams during a visit to the Cadbury chocolate factory – the largest in the southern hemisphere – near Hobart.

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Chocolate maker Hershey issues warning over record cocoa prices

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US firm expects rising costs to hit profits and sales as consumers cut spending on treats

The US chocolatier Hershey has warned on profits and sales after a sharp increase in the cost of cocoa to record levels pushed up the price of chocolate, hitting cash-strapped consumers in the pocket.

Global cocoa prices hit a new peak of $5,874 (£4,655) a ton on Thursday in New York as dry weather continued to affect crops in west Africa, with poor harvests driving up prices in the region, which produces the majority of global supply.

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And the winner is… the Scottish chocolatier creating sweet treats for the Oscars

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Fiona McArthur’s vegan sweets began as an experiment – and now they’re food for the Hollywood stars

It’s a long way from the windswept waterfront of Campbeltown to Hollywood: but for next month’s Oscar nominees a taste of this remote corner of Scotland awaits, after the owner of the town’s chocolate shop was chosen to produce the sweet treats for the famed $125,000 award ceremony goodie bags.

Fiona McArthur, who started creating her chocolates in her mother’s kitchen four-and-a-half years ago, says she’s still pinching herself at the coup. “It’s blowing my mind that my chocolates are going to be eaten by people like Bradley Cooper and Margot Robbie,” she says.

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‘Brands to avoid’: Mars and Cadbury among chocolate firms criticised in ethics report

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Only 17 out of 82 companies investigated were found to use suppliers that paid cocoa farmers enough to live on

Leading chocolate brands have been criticised for having “inadequate” ethical standards in their cocoa supply chain in a report from Ethical Consumer. Only 17 out of 82 brands investigated by the consumer organisation were judged to be using chocolate from suppliers that ensured farmers were paid enough to live on.

As a result, there is a risk that Advent calendars, chocolate Santas and other Christmas treats will have been produced with child labour. About 60% of the world’s cocoa comes from west Africa, and about six in 10 cocoa-growing households in Ghana are estimated to use child labour, with four in 10 in Ivory Coast.

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Chocolate prices soar as cost of cocoa rises 25%

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World heads into a potential third year of supply deficit as major growing regions inundated by flooding

In bad news for chocolate lovers, confectionery makers are increasing prices as cocoa beans trade at near decade highs with no respite on the horizon.

Food companies have been grappling with rising costs for the main chocolate ingredient, with cocoa prices up more than 25% in a year amid widespread flooding in some of the world’s main growing regions.

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‘Golden shares’ to safeguard sustainability at Tony’s Chocolonely

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Chocolate maker appoints ‘mission guardians’ with power to veto changes to ethical strategy

The ethical confectionery company Tony’s Chocolonely has introduced a “golden share” mechanism to prevent shareholders from weakening its sustainability commitments in future.

In an unusual move, the Dutch company, which makes colourfully wrapped chunky chocolate bars stocked in UK supermarkets, has created a new governance structure with golden shares that carry the power to veto changes to its ethical strategy.

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Cocoa planting is destroying protected forests in west Africa, study finds

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Global trade in chocolate, worth more than $1tn a year, is leading to widespread deforestation in Ivory Coast and Ghana

The world’s hunger for chocolate is a major cause of the destruction of protected forests in west Africa, scientists have said.

Satellite maps of Ivory Coast and Ghana showed swathes of formerly dense forest had become cocoa plantations since 2000, according to a study.

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Health nut: Hershey to debut ‘plant based’ Reese’s peanut butter cups

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The popular chocolate and peanut butter treat is one of two new ‘plant based’ offerings from the chocolatier in the next two months

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are getting the vegan treatment.

The Hershey Company said on Tuesday that Reese’s plant-based peanut butter cups, which go on sale this month, will be its first vegan chocolates sold nationally. A second plant-based offering, Hershey’s plant-based extra creamy with almonds and sea salt, will follow in April.

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Salmonella halts production at world’s biggest chocolate factory

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Contamination found at plant in Belgium run by Swiss group Barry Callebaut

Production has been halted in the world’s biggest chocolate plant, run by the Swiss group Barry Callebaut in Wieze, Belgium, after salmonella contaminations were found.

A company spokesman said production had been protectively halted at the factory, which produces liquid chocolate in wholesale batches for 73 clients making confectionaries.

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Cadbury faces fresh accusations of child labour on cocoa farms in Ghana

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A new TV documentary alleges that children as young as 10 are using machetes to harvest pods

The food giant that owns the Cadbury brand is embroiled in fresh allegations of employing child labour after an investigation obtained footage of children working with machetes on cocoa farms in its supply chain.

Children as young as 10 have allegedly been found working in Ghana to harvest cocoa pods to supply Mondelēz International, which owns Cadbury. Campaigners say the farmers are being paid less than £2 a day and can’t afford to hire adult workers.

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What is the best Christmas party food? | Kitchen aide

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Cheese and chocolate are your friends, but keep them bite-sized. Top chefs share their favourite nibbles …

• Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com

What makes the best party snacks?
Rachel, Hove

“Anything that can be eaten cleanly in a mouthful is ideal,” says Guardian food columnist Ravinder Bhogal. “Anything too big, messy or that requires lots of chewing should be avoided – there’s nothing worse than those awkward, mouth-full moments when someone suddenly strikes up a conversation.”

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Our best Christmas food gifts and recipes

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From our archive: from festive pickles and homemade sweets to luxury biscuits and exotic oils, a a gift you’ve made yourself can make someone’s Christmas

A trio of presents that you’ll want for Christmas dinner: a ginger nut brittle to serve as is or to blitz into a toast-topping paste, crumbly cheese biscuits and an enticingly easy fig jam

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Good or bad? Top cardiologist gives verdict on chocolate, coffee and wine

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Exclusive: Prof Thomas Lüscher assesses the heart healthiness of some of our favourite treats

Dark chocolate is a “joy” when it comes to keeping your heart healthy, coffee is likely protective, but wine is at best “neutral”, according to one of the world’s leading cardiologists.

As editor of the European Heart Journal for more than a decade, Prof Thomas Lüscher led a team that sifted through 3,200 manuscripts from scientists and doctors every year. Only a fraction – those deemed “truly novel” and backed up with “solid data” – would be selected for publication.

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One tin of coconut milk – 17 delicious ways to use it, from lime dal to soda bread

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This store-cupboard staple is fantastic in curries and works brilliantly in sweet dishes too, whether you fancy panna cotta, grapefruit cheesecake or a super-rich hot chocolate

Coconut milk has a reliable transformative power, turning humble ingredients into something exotic, enticing and a little festive. In a short amount of time, a couple of aubergines become aubergine curry, for example. Discovering a tin of coconut milk in the cupboard opens up possibilities.

But if you are not a regular user of the stuff, you may be alarmed to find that it’s one of a bewildering array of related by-products, including coconut water, coconut oil, coconut cream, creamed coconut (which comes in a block) and cream of coconut. Are any of these ingredients similar or interchangeable? Sort of. Coconut milk and coconut cream are both made from squeezing the grated flesh of the fruit, with coconut cream being the richer version from the first pressing. If you have a fresh coconut, it is possible to do this yourself.

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Hold the toast! 10 delicious avocado recipes – from latkes to luscious lime cheesecake

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There is so much more to do with an avocado than just mash it up, whether you decide to make a grilled peach salad, Mexican chicken soup or fabulous ice-cream

Avocado has three main uses: the first is avocado toast; the second is guacamole; the third is being held aloft as a totem for why millennials will never be able to afford their own homes. This is all rather unfair. The sheer number of air miles that it takes to reach your plate is often so vast that an avocado should be a treat. Thoughtlessly slapping one on a piece of toast simply won’t cut it. Here are some more distinctive uses for this ingredient.

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How to eat: Nutella

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This month, How to Eat is digging into the chocolate spread. Is it best on croissants, pancakes or ice-cream? Why does it bang with bananas? And could the connoisseurs’ serve be straight from the jar?

The subject of heists in Germany and chaos in French supermarkets, blessed by the high priests of the kitchen pass (Nigella, Yotam) but also slathered on chips in Aberdeen, Nutella’s popularity knows no bounds.

It is less a hazelnut chocolate spread (other brands are available but, honestly, have you ever tried them?) than a global phenomenon. One that has turned its Italian parent company, Ferrero, into a circa €12bn-a-year business, created a secondary market in jar locks and resonates in the news cycle in endlessly unexpected ways: from the pre-match snacking of Brentford FC midfield “machine” Vitaly Janelt to (and, no, the date on this is not 1 April) plans to sterilise Britain’s grey squirrel population.

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‘Crumpets have been my saviour!’: readers on their 14 best comfort meals of lockdown

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Food has felt more important than ever this past year – particularly meals that offer solace. From rösti to Coco Pops, here are the dishes that got us through

For me, lockdown has meant an absolutely manic schedule, working from home with back-to-back Zoom calls and long hours. Crumpets have been my saviour. Yes, factory made, perfectly consistent and versatile: top with yoghurt and frozen berries at 8am, blue cheese and leeks at 1pm, followed by eggs and spinach at 7pm, and you have a full day’s menu. For a bit more lockdown spirit, I tried the sourdough version (delicious if squishy) and making my own (I promise you, it’s not worth it). Sophie, data analyst, St Albans

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Meltdown: Ravneet Gill’s recipes for using up Easter egg chocolate

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Who wants to turn their excess Easter eggs into chocolate fondant, chocolate cereal clusters and chocolate and hazelnut spread? Bring it on!

Can you bake with Easter egg chocolate? Sure you can. After getting my hands on a variety of Easter eggs this year (dark chocolate, caramelised white chocolate, orange-flavoured, nougat-filled mini eggs, the ones with pretzels stuck all over them … ), I found a place for them all: melted and turned into something else. For these recipes, I encourage you to use up whatever chocolate you have. Easter eggs are typically sweetened (even the dark varieties), so taste them beforehand (as I’m sure you have already) and judge if you need to add any salt, for example.

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