In an article published on Tuesday 14 April on its website, the Bloomberg agency reports the results of its investigations into the decline in cocoa processing around the world, which is directly linked to the reduced demand for chocolate from retail stores closed due to the spread of the coronavirus. Based on the average of estimates gathered by the group from analysts, brokers and processors, in Europe, the world’s largest consuming region, grindings could fall by 3% this year. North America would see a drop of more than 5%, while Asian processing could fall by 9%. According to Eric Bergman, vice president of JSG Commodities in Norwalk, Connecticut, « demand for chocolate will fall as a direct result of rising prices and a sharp contraction in economic growth, » and « the pandemic is now accelerating the decline in consumption as disposable income for luxury goods continues to decline. The International Monetary Fund estimated on Tuesday that world gross domestic product would fall by 3% in 2020. As a reminder, during the peak of the great contraction of 2008-2009, world cocoa grindings had fallen by 6.3%.