Breakingviews - Fake chocolate is a sweeter bet than plant burgers

Pranav Kiran - Reuters - 31/03
Eco-conscious diners weren’t enough to propel once-hyped startups like Beyond Meat into reshaping the food chain. The problem for plant-based burgers is that they weren’t clearly a better option on price or taste, and threatened an established market of farmers and meatpackers. When it comes to edible lab experiments, a sweet tooth works better: artificial chocolate offers a remedy for the $130 billion confectionery industry’s recent bitter harvest.
TORONTO, March 28 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Eco-conscious diners weren’t enough to propel once-hyped startups like Beyond Meat (BYND.O), opens new tab into reshaping the food chain. The problem for plant-based burgers is that they weren’t clearly a better option on price or taste, and threatened an established market of farmers and meatpackers. When it comes to edible lab experiments, a sweet tooth works better: artificial chocolate offers a remedy for the $130 billion confectionery industry’s recent bitter harvest.
Disease and bad weather hurt cocoa production in Ivory Coast and Ghana, which are responsible for 60% of global supply. Prices of cocoa futures quadrupled in 2024 from the prior year, while production has trailed demand for three years in a row. Jefferies analysts in January estimated this shortfall would persist until 2028. But the International Cocoa Organization now forecasts, opens new tab a surplus of 142,000 tons in the current season. That extreme volatility can be a problem for chocolatiers.
Column chart of global cocoa market supply and deficit in thousands of tons between 2008 and 2024
After all, to guard against cocoa’s swings, confectioners like $35 bi...
[Short citation of 8% of the original article]