If you’re waiting until the last minute to run out and buy your sweetie some sweets ahead of Valentine’s Day tomorrow — or maybe you’re planning to treat yourself — you’ll probably be glad to hear that that box of chocolate hearts could be cheaper than it was last year.
Cocoa growers in Latin America and West Africa are responsible for producing 70% of the world’s cocoa supply, and they’ve been bringing in bumper harvests lately, Bloomberg reports.
And as these things usually work, an increase in supply could be good for shoppers: Cocoa futures are at their lowest in 9 years, which means it’s cheaper for candy companies, who could then pass on the savings to consumers.
There should be cheap chocolate to drown your sorrows in even after the big day, as hedge funds predict that cocoa prices will continue to fall.
“Production is going to be much higher, and that’s why prices are falling,” Donald Selkin, chief market strategist at Newbridge Securities, told Bloomberg. In order for that trend to reverse, “you need civil unrest in these typically unstable African countries or a pickup in demand,” he said.
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist