CNN —Cocoa prices are surging so high, the Easter Bunny might want to hoard its chocolate. Poor climate and crop diseases in West Africa – home to 70% of global cocoa production – have tightened supply and caused prices to skyrocket. As prices rise, some chocolatiers are exploring cost-cutting alternatives, like diversifying their products to depend less on cocoa. Yet mining often destroys farms and the possibility of a livelihood in cocoa production, Issaka said. “Given the persistently high cocoa prices, it may be necessary for us to make responsible adjustments to pricing in the future,” the spokesperson wrote in an email.

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Persons: Hershey’s, Shaquille O’Neal, Michele Buck, Billy Roberts, Roberts, ” Roberts, Issaka, Will Kletter, Kletter, “, Peng Xu, Christopher Taylor, Li, Taylor, ”, “ We’re, “ It’s, ” Taylor Organizations: CNN, Cadbury, NCA, “ Brands, Industries, International Cocoa Organization, Rabobank, US, ”, Euromonitor Locations: West Africa, North Region, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Silicon, Washington ,, Manhattan