Chocolate will disappear by 2040, say experts

According to experts, the cacao trees, which need heavy rainfall for growth, are struggling to grow due to warmer climates.

A report in metro.co.uk quoted US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as saying that A temperature rise of just 2.1C over the next 30 years could spell doom for chocolate industry on the planet and no amount of rain could compensate for the rise in mercury.

African countries such as Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana, which produce more than 50% of the world's chocolate, are testimony to this problem.

"Unlike other tree crops that have benefited from the development of modern, high yielding cultivars and crop management techniques to realise their genetic potential, more than 90 per cent of the global cocoa crop is produced by smallholders on subsistence farms with unimproved planting material," Doug Hawkins, from London-based research firm Hardman Agribusiness told MailOnline.

"All the indicators are that we could be looking at a chocolate deficit of 100,000 tonnes a year in the next few years," he further said.