Local confectioneries switching up business models amid global cocoa shortage

Local small confectioneries in Singapore are switching up their business models to offer experiential services like chocolate-making workshops, instead of just selling chocolates. These small players are facing increasing pressure on their profit margins, amid skyrocketing prices in the cocoa market. Cocoa supplies from the world's two leading producers -- Ghana and Ivory Coast -- are drying up, thanks to climate change and disease outbreaks. The International Cocoa Organisation says new cocoa trees take as long as three to four years to produce beans.