Growing cacao trees also requires a lot of water, yet only the seeds of the fruit are harvested. One way to tackle these problems is to make chocolate without using cocoa beans — the fermented ...

Branch says farmers in Ecuador, for example, have planted new trees that will produce a lot more cocoa a few years ... fortify older ones and make the cocoa bean supply more sustainable.

Exporters in the Ivory Coast rejected cocoa beans due to quality issues, raising fears of a global supply shortage. Additionally, a decline in Ivorian cocoa harvests contributed to the price surge.