Willy Wonka worried as world faces chocolate shortage Leading confectioners have warned the world may be running out of chocolate as global demand continues to outpace production. The problem is the global cacao market, the key ingredient in chocolate, is under both economic and environmental pressure add to that the outbreak of Ebola in some producing countries: Paul Young is a Master Chocolatier in London: "If the big multinationals can't buy their cacao from West Africa, they'll start looking elsewhere and that could be the places where I buy a lot of my cacao and chocolate from. Those places could then start feeling the pinch so those prices could end up rising as well, which would then affect me directly and my customers. Estimates suggest there will be a one-million tonne cacao shortfall by 2020. The impact on prices is worrying the industry with cacao going up 25 percent a tonne this year. If the trend continues the cost of a bar of chocolate will be unsustainable.