Sorry, ladies. Chocolate prices to soar.

[green73]

Cocoa butter, which provides the melting quality in chocolate, surged almost 70 per cent in the year to August, while milk powder jumped 50 per cent, leading to a 31 per cent rise in the cost of making a bar of milk chocolate, according to commodity data specialists Mintec.

The cost pressures on chocolatiers are not expected to let up any time soon, according to Liliana Gonzalez, analyst at Mintec.

Cocoa bean prices, closely watched by chocolatiers such as Nestlé and Mars, have continued to rise.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a270ef12-3...44feab7de.html

[RickyJ]

Why just ladies? Do they eat more chocolate than gentlemen?

[angelatc]

I don't care how much it costs! You better be buying your girl some chocolate, or you will answer to me!

[green73]

Why just ladies? Do they eat more chocolate than gentlemen?

Sorry for you too, Ricky.

[Deborah K]

God help me!

[dannno]

Just switch to dark chocolate. It has a bit less cocoa butter and dairy, which are where the costs are going up.

[Feeding the Abscess]

Just switch to dark chocolate. It has a bit less cocoa butter and dairy, which are where the costs are going up.

Cocoa beans are also going up

[Origanalist]

I don't care how much it costs! You better be buying your girl some chocolate, or you will answer to me!

Mine found my dark chocolate bar stash.....

[cajuncocoa]

[eduardo89]

God help me!

Help you?! I have a girlfriend and a daughter who are both chocoholics!

[Keith and stuff]

Why just ladies? Do they eat more chocolate than gentlemen?

The working theory is lots more. I used to eat a lot of chocolate. Now I just stick with cocoa instead. Though, I'm actually more concerned about the soaring price of bacon. It is out of control!

[MelissaWV]

The working theory is lots more. I used to eat a lot of chocolate. Now I just stick with cocoa instead. Though, I'm actually more concerned about the soaring price of bacon. It is out of control!

Chocolate-covered bacon futures.

[Root]

Good thing Nestle, Mars, etc all get government subsidized gmo corn syrup.

[Icymudpuppy]

I don't eat that much chocolate, so I don't think this will affect me much. I eat 1 mini halloween size hershey's special dark a day. Appx. It is a negligible part of my overall expenditures. Indeed, one jumbo halloween bag of hershey's special dark minis will last me about a year.

[angelatc]

Mine found my dark chocolate bar stash.....

Well duh. She was obviously psychically connected.

[Dr.3D]

So does thismean we should stock up our freezers with several hundred big bars of chocolate?

[jj-]

Just switch to dark chocolate. It has a bit less cocoa butter and dairy, which are where the costs are going up.

Nowadays they don't even use coconut butter anymore. They often add some crappy vegetable oil, or PGPR, which isn't even fat but feels like it.

[Origanalist]

Well duh. She was obviously psychically connected.

We are kind of joined at the hip......

[Keith and stuff]

Nowadays they don't even use coconut butter anymore. They often add some crappy vegetable oil, or PGPR, which isn't even fat but feels like it.

I think you are confused. Either that or trolling

[eduardo89]

Nowadays they don't even use coconut butter anymore. They often add some crappy vegetable oil, or PGPR, which isn't even fat but feels like it.

Coconut butter?

[dinosaur]

Coconut butter?

There is actually such a thing. It is made from pureed coconuts, sort of like peanut butter is pureed peanuts. She's right though about cheap chocolate not using much real cocoa butter. They replace it with less expensive fats. I've always wanted to order a big bucket of real cocoa butter to make chocolates with because it is so rare to find high concentrations of cocoa butter in chocolate.

[Origanalist]

There is actually such a thing. It is made from pureed coconuts, sort of like peanut butter is pureed peanuts. She's right though about cheap chocolate not using much real cocoa butter. They replace it with less expensive fats. I've always wanted to order a big bucket of real cocoa butter to make chocolates with because it is so rare to find high concentrations of cocoa butter in chocolate.

She?

[eduardo89]

There is actually such a thing. It is made from pureed coconuts, sort of like peanut butter is pureed peanuts. She's right though about cheap chocolate not using much real cocoa butter. They replace it with less expensive fats. I've always wanted to order a big bucket of real cocoa butter to make chocolates with because it is so rare to find high concentrations of cocoa butter in chocolate.

I know there is, but what does coconut butter have to do with the rising price of cocoa butter?

[eduardo89]

She?

jj- is LPG who is a female.

[Origanalist]

jj- is LPG who is a female.

I think my girldar failed me.

[Tod]

There was an article in an Ohio Ag mag:

http://www.farmanddairy.com/news/dai...ce/158864.html

Dairy and poultry products increasing in price

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Shoppers are paying slightly more for food items at the grocery store compared to the first half of 2013. Higher retail prices for meat items such as boneless chicken breasts and dairy products, among other foods, resulted in a slight increase in the American Farm Bureau Federation’s latest Semi-Annual Marketbasket Survey.
Meal cost

The informal survey shows the total cost of 16 food items that can be used to prepare one or more meals was $53.20, up $1.66 or about 3 percent compared to a survey conducted about six months ago. Of the 16 items surveyed, 11 increased and five decreased in average price.
“Several poultry and dairy product items increased in price during the second half of the year, accounting for much of the increase in the marketbasket,” said John Anderson, AFBF’s deputy chief economist.
“As anticipated, food prices have increased by about 3 percent so far during the year, which is slightly higher than the average rate of inflation over the past 10 years,” he said.

more at the link...

[dinosaur]

I know there is, but what does coconut butter have to do with the rising price of cocoa butter?

Nothing, I didn't realize that everyone knew what coconut butter is.

[Keith and stuff]

Nothing, I didn't realize that everyone knew what coconut butter is.

Oh thank goodness. Yeah. I think we know. I oil pull with coconut oil even.

[jj-]

I meant cocoa butter. They often put vegetable oils or PGPR instead of cocoa butter in chocolate bars, so the more expensive cocoa butter shouldn't affect the price of a lot of products.

[torchbearer]

some chocolate is acquired through slave labor. can't see how slave labor is getting more expensive.