© 2025 WRVO Public Media
NPR News for Central New York
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Why a changing climate may mean less chocolate in the future

The price of cocoa has reached historic highs, forcing chocolate manufacturers to adjust their products — through price increases and shrinking package sizes.
Huizeng Hu/Getty Images
The price of cocoa has reached historic highs, forcing chocolate manufacturers to adjust their products — through price increases and shrinking package sizes.

In 2024, we reported how extreme weather events — from drought to heavy rainfall — may be dwindling the future of chocolate.

Just last week, we saw an inkling of that: The Hershey Company announced it would significantly raise the cost of its candy in the face of historically high cocoa prices.

Cocoa is mainly sourced from just two countries. In this encore episode, Yasmin Tayag, a food, health and science writer at The Atlantic, talks to host Emily Kwong about the commodity's shortage: What's causing it, how it's linked to poor farming conditions and potential solutions. Plus, they enjoy a chocolate alternative taste test.

Read Yasmin's full article.


Have a neuroscience question? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.

Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.

Listen to Short Wave on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

This episode was produced by Berly McCoy and edited by our showrunner Rebecca Ramirez. Ko Takasugi-Czernowin was the audio engineer.

Copyright 2025 NPR

Emily Kwong (she/her) is the reporter for NPR's daily science podcast, Short Wave. The podcast explores new discoveries, everyday mysteries and the science behind the headlines — all in about 10 minutes, Monday through Friday.
Berly McCoy
Kimberly (Berly) McCoy (she/her) is an assistant producer for NPR's science podcast, Short Wave. The podcast tells stories about science and scientists, in all the forms they take.
Rebecca Ramirez (she/her) is the founding producer of NPR's daily science podcast, Short Wave. It's a meditation in how to be a Swiss Army Knife, in that it involves a little of everything — background research, finding and booking sources, interviewing guests, writing, cutting the tape, editing, scoring ... you get the idea.
Recent cuts to federal funding are challenging our mission to serve central and upstate New York with trusted journalism, vital local coverage, and the diverse programming that informs and connects our communities. This is the moment to join our community of supporters and help keep journalists on the ground, asking hard questions that matter to our region.

Stand with public media and make your gift today—not just for yourself, but for all who depend on WRVO as a trusted resource and civic cornerstone in central and upstate New York.