Illustrations by Gayoung Lee; Shutterstock.com (all images)

STANDARDS

CCSS: 6.SP.B.5, 7.SP.A.2, MP1, MP3, MP5

TEKS: 6.12C, 6.12D, 7.6G, 7.12B

Cocoa Crisis?

You may be in for a fright if your favorite candy is made of chocolate. This year, the price of cocoa reached a historic high of $12,151 per metric ton! Chocolate’s main ingredient is cocoa. (Cocoa is the roasted and processed form of the raw cacao bean.)

 Two-thirds of the world’s cocoa supply comes from West Africa. Extreme weather has rocked that region since 2023. A long drought was followed by torrential rains. As a result, global cocoa production is expected to drop 11 percent this year. So the price will likely rise even more.

Halloween candy prices rose 13 percent last year, and we may see a similar increase this month. Alternatively, candies might get smaller while their prices stay the same. This phenomenon is called shrinkflation.

Full-size candy bars shrank by as much as 20 percent from 2022 to 2023, says Sylvain Charlebois. He’s the senior director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University in Canada. According to his observations, even fun size candies are shrinking! That means trick-or-treaters have to work harder to get the same amount. “They have to basically visit more doors,” Charlebois says.

But don’t be too scared! Candy prices tend to change in cycles. A good cocoa crop next year could mean lower prices—and bigger Halloween hauls!

Answer the questions using the data displays. Go to scholastic.com/math for 5 more questions! Record your work and answers on our answer sheet.

About how much did cocoa cost per metric ton in July 2023?

A. $1,100

B. $2,100

C. $3,100

D. $4,100

By about what percent did the price of snacks increase from January 2019 to October 2023 accounting for size?

A. 20%

B. 22%

C. 24%

D. 26%

What percent of cocoa comes from Nigeria?

A. 4%

B. 6%

C. 12%

D. 14%

How much would it have cost to buy 4 metric tons of cocoa in March 2024?

A. $4,000

B. $7,000

C. $22,000

D. $28,000

What is the difference in cost per gram of chocolate in the “Shrinkflation Explained” infographic?

MATH TALK

What’s your favorite breakfast food? How does it compare with the data shown here?

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