Uh-oh… the world is apparently running out of chocolate!

It’s true that Ireland couldn’t cope without potatoes back in 1845, but we reckon we’d get on okay in 2014. We have rice, pasta, bread… loads of other carbs!

However there ARE some things that we really could not go on without… one of them being chocolate. It is a key food group after all.

So we are more than a little panicked about the claim by two of the world’s leading chocolate manufacturers, Mars, Inc. and Barry Callebaut, that the globe is slowly but surely running out of cocoa – the main ingredient in our favourite treat.

Production of cocoa in West Africa has been cut by around 30 to 40% in recent years, due to increasingly dry weather. With larger countries like China consuming more and more chocolate these days, supply is well exceeding demand.

So does that mean we’ll be eating chocolate-flavoured Galaxy bars in the near future? Hopefully not. There are a number of preventative measures in place – one of which being that many companies are making their bars a little smaller. So don’t complain next time you notice that your Milky Way is a little more fun-size than it was before – it’s better than nothing!

Scientists in West Africa are also working on developing a cocoa bean tree that could produce seven times more beans – though taste may be compromised. Excuse us while we go and stockpile enough Dairy Milk bars to last us for the next year…