Bitter sweets: Could Ebola affect chocolate supplies?

The ongoing Ebola epidemic is being closely monitored worldwide, while global organizations struggle to find methods to best contain the disease.

The Ebola outbreak’s economic impact is also expected have long-lasting, international implications, including its effect on the supplies and prices of one of the world’s most popular commodities: Chocolate.

West Africa produces nearly three-quarters of the world’s cocoa — with the nations of Ivory Coast and Ghana responsible for 60 percent of that supply.

And while Ebola has not yet appeared in those two nations, their proximity to Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone — the current epicenters of the Ebola outbreak — have led to concerns that any continued spread of the disease could also cause a major disruption in cocoa production, and another spike in world cocoa prices.

Global demand for chocolate has been rising for years now.

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