Bad news for sweet lovers. Experts warn that due to the heat and drought in Europe, there is a good chance the sugar beet harvest will be poor and this will affect candy and chocolate production.
Farmers in many European countries are concerned about the low yield of sugar beet. Altogether, sugar production in the European Union and the United Kingdom will decrease by about 16.4 million tons in the next season. That’s about 1 million tons less than the previous year, estimates the trading company Czarnikow.
Less candy and chocolate due to poor harvest
A poor harvest means that more sugar may have to be imported. If the rain also stops for now, the production forecast can be adjusted down further.
White sugar prices have risen sharply in the past two weeks and are now 8 percent below their five-year high, already reached in June. According to experts, higher prices may mean that less sugar will be purchased and this may have consequences for the production of sweets and chocolate. So some products will start to reduce their production levels, it seems.
Sugar beet cultivation can still recover
Beets are usually harvested from the fall. This means that agriculture can still recover if the weather changes in the short term. But the chances of that happening are slim. Although heavy rain and thunderstorms are expected tomorrow, it does not seem that there will be enough rain in the coming period to restore agriculture. However, the expected rains next week may lead to local flooding as the soil has dried up.
According to farmers, it is difficult to spray against heat and drought, and this affects not only sugar beets. Other crops such as corn and sunflower also suffer from the heat.
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Bad news for the sweet tooth: Maybe less candy due to dehydration