> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://thechocolatelife.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # May News & AMA | #PSC 200 - URL: https://thechocolatelife.com/may-news-ama-psc-200/ - Published: 2026-05-11T16:11:47.000Z - Updated: 2026-05-18T18:46:01.000Z - Description: OVERVIEW: Episode 200 of #PodSaveChocolate features chocolate and cocoa news fit to eat, as well as the monthly live AMA (Ask Me Anything about chocolate or cocoa) for May 2026. - Author: Clay Gordon - Tags: PodSaveChocolate, Live Stream, #Footnote 🗓️ Episode 200 streamed on Tuesday, May 12th, 2026\. Click a link below to view the archived episode. This ****YOUTUBE** link is shareable. [![CTA Image](https://thechocolatelife.com/content/images/2025/11/ytlogo256x256.png)](https://youtube.com/live/lPn7Txo4Slk?ref=thechocolatelife.com) Watch and comment LIVE or view the archived episode! Subscribe (free!) to the [@PodSaveChocolate YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@podsavechocolate/featured?ref=thechocolatelife.com), like this video, comment, and ****share** this episode to help grow the #PSC community. [Participate/Watch on YouTube ](https://youtube.com/live/lPn7Txo4Slk?ref=thechocolatelife.com) This ****LINKEDIN** link is shareable. [![CTA Image](https://thechocolatelife.com/content/images/2025/05/LinkedInLogo.png)](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/claygordon%5Fpodsavechocolate-lavidacocoa-thechocolatelife-activity-7459635750091866113-Clx4?utm%5Fsource=share&utm%5Fmedium=member%5Fdesktop&rcm=ACoAAAABaLUB44l0lzyoZ9nf9Lg8nfstgzLqxbg) Watch and comment LIVE or view the archived episode on LinkedIn. Join my network on LinkedIn to receive notifications and to refer business to each other. [Participate/Watch on LinkedIn ](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/claygordon%5Fpodsavechocolate-lavidacocoa-thechocolatelife-activity-7459635750091866113-Clx4?utm%5Fsource=share&utm%5Fmedium=member%5Fdesktop&rcm=ACoAAAABaLUB44l0lzyoZ9nf9Lg8nfstgzLqxbg) This ****FACEBOOK** link is shareable [![CTA Image](https://thechocolatelife.com/content/images/2025/05/FacebookLogo.png)](https://www.facebook.com/share/1Fsn7d6XZ8/) Watch and comment LIVE or view the archived episode on ****TheChocolateLife page** on Facebook (for 30 days, then watch the archive on YouTube). Follow [TheChocolateLife on Facebook ](https://fb.me/thechocolatelife?ref=thechocolatelife.com)to receive notifications and catch up on other content. [Participate/Watch on Facebook ](https://www.facebook.com/share/1Fsn7d6XZ8/) 🗓️ The ****May Member AMA call** is scheduled for Sunday, the 17th, beginning at 10:00 am MST. The link to participate can be found in the May member newsletter. --- ## **Episode 200 Overview** In this episode: ***Chocolate News that’s Fit to Eat™*** for May 2026. 💡 People participating live can ****Ask Me Anything** *in the chat at any point during the episode.* (\*As long as it’s about chocolate or cocoa.) ### **The Ongoing Saga of the Cost of Cocoa** **& the new TCL Cocoa Market Report** | **MARKETS** | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Barchart.com [Futures Prices](https://www.barchart.com/futures/quotes/CC%2A0/futures-prices?ref=thechocolatelife.com) / [Futures Overview](https://www.barchart.com/futures/quotes/CC%2A0/overview?ref=thechocolatelife.com) | | Trading Economics [Chart](https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/cocoa?ref=thechocolatelife.com) | | TradingCharts.com [1977 Baseline](https://futures.tradingcharts.com/historical/CC/1977/0/continuous.html?ref=thechocolatelife.com) | | [ICCO Pricing Stats](https://www.icco.org/statistics/?ref=thechocolatelife.com) | 📈 TOP 5 MACRO TRENDS TO WATCH **1\. Strait of Hormuz resolution (or escalation)** Analysts expect cocoa prices to stabilize in the $3,500–$5,000/tonne range through 2026, but the Hormuz situation introduces a wildcard: if ceasefire talks collapse, freight and energy costs could spike again. **2\. The 2025/26 surplus — will it actually materialize?** The market is pricing in a surplus. Rabobank cut its 2025/26 surplus estimate to 250,000 MT in February, down from 328,000 MT in November. The drought data and weak cherelle\[\[1\]\] formation suggest further downward revisions are coming. \[\[1\]\]: A cherelle is the baby pod that emerges from a fertilized flower. Not all cherelles grow to maturity, **3\. EUDR compliance — the December 2026 cliff** Large companies must comply with EUDR by December 30, 2026, with small and micro-enterprises following by June 30, 2027\. Verified-origin beans now command a notable price premium – *non-certified volumes are struggling to find willing international buyers*. This bifurcation will intensify as the deadline approaches. **4\. China's zero-tariff policy for African cocoa** China has announced zero-tariff treatment for 53 African countries, including major cocoa-producing countries, lowering entry costs for West African agricultural commodities into the Chinese market. This is an early-stage trend, but it may be directionally significant, as it creates an alternative demand pathway for West African-origin beans that bypasses traditional European and U.S. buyers. **5\. Demand recovery (or continued destruction)** Major chocolate makers are signaling a “cautious stance toward holding prices rather than chasing volume recovery.” J.P. Morgan holds a medium-term price forecast of $6,000/tonne, f*raming this as structural rather than cyclical*. 📈 TOP 5 MICRO TRENDS TO WATCH **1\. Mid-crop rainfall — the single most important short-term variable** The current drought in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana is the dominant near-term price driver. A meaningful rain event in May–June would rapidly shift sentiment bearish. Another dry month likely triggers a price spike. **2\. ICE certified inventory levels** ICE cocoa inventories rose to a 19.5-month high of 2,540,983 bags. Rising certified stocks are a structural bearish anchor; they cap how high prices can go on any given supply scare. **3\. Fund positioning — the short squeeze risk** Funds boosted short positions in NY cocoa to nearly 20,000 net-***short*** contracts, the most in more than three years. Heavily shorted markets are violently prone to short-covering rallies on any bullish news. A rain failure, a Nigerian export disruption, a Hormuz escalation, any of these could trigger a rapid 10–15% price spike, driven by positioning, not fundamentals. **4\. Cacao Swollen Shoot Virus (CSSV) spread** *CSSV has impacted 81% of Ghana's crop and spread across 11 of Côte d'Ivoire's 13 southwestern growing regions.* This is the slow-moving catastrophe that doesn’t make headlines but steadily erodes the structural supply base. If replanting programs don't accelerate meaningfully, the 2026/27 and 2027/28 crops face a compounding disease risk that no amount of good weather can fully offset. It is one (the?) reason prices may stay structurally elevated even in surplus years. **5\. Barry Callebaut's potential cocoa division separation** Barry Callebaut has reportedly been exploring the separation of its cocoa division from its chocolate business to reduce exposure to volatile cocoa prices. If this proceeds, it would create a standalone entity controlling massive grinding capacity; a potential new counterparty structure for raw bean procurement. It could also signal that the era of vertically integrated cocoa-to-chocolate is on the verge of ending. --- ## **2026 Chocolate Scorecard – First Take** [Chocolate ScorecardChocolate Scorecard is coordinated by Be Slavery Free, with universities, consultants and civil society groups engaging in transforming the chocolate industry.![](https://thechocolatelife.com/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-31.png)![](https://thechocolatelife.com/content/images/thumbnail/chocolate-scorecard-3.svg)](https://chocolatescorecard.com/scorecards?ref=thechocolatelife.com) ****The 7th Edition (2026)** of The Chocolate Scorecard has been released! This will be a quick, first take, review, live, of what’s in (and not in) this Scorecard. An in-depth review is planned for Friday, May 15th. > The Insights page is “... an advocacy document that selectively uses data to name and shame companies, but that blurs some important distinctions between what is known, what is inferred, and what is technically or politically realistic. It is useful, but far from neutral.” > > *In statistical terms, this is a voluntary response sample with unknown response bias. There is no adjustment for that bias and no obvious attempt to cross‑check non‑participants through public data or regulatory filings. The architecture makes sense for a campaign tool, but *not* for claims that the Scorecard as such “covers 90% of world cocoa.”Implication: The rankings tell you how a self‑selected subset of companies performed against Be Slavery Free’s questionnaire about policy.* > *— source: custom LLM analysis prompts* [Chocolate ScorecardChocolate Scorecard is coordinated by Be Slavery Free, with universities, consultants and civil society groups engaging in transforming the chocolate industry.![](https://thechocolatelife.com/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-30.png)![](https://thechocolatelife.com/content/images/thumbnail/team-hero-be-slavery-free.png)](https://chocolatescorecard.com/meet-the-team?ref=thechocolatelife.com) This is a link to the ****Meet the Team** page on the Chocolate Scorecard site. A lack of transparency, much? ![](https://thechocolatelife.com/content/images/2026/05/TCL_emailWCF.jpeg) [Governance](https://worldcocoafoundation.org/about/governance?ref=thechocolatelife.com). Transparency in reporting key data is not just an issue with the Scorecard. Data quality is also an issue. --- ## **More News** | **File It Under** | | | ----------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **GoogleNews** | [News](https://news.google.com/search?q=chocolate&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en&ref=thechocolatelife.com) | | **TCL Chocolate Industry Weekly Roundup** | Want [this](https://thechocolatelife.com/tcl-weekly-chocolate-news-brief-may-4-10/) delivered to your inbox every Monday? Become an ANNUAL premium member of TheChocolateLife! | | **WCF Stories** | World Cocoa Foundation’s [Cocoa Matters newsletter](https://mailchi.mp/worldcocoa.org/cocoa-matters-september-13532075?ref=thechocolatelife.com) | | **SFA is GOOD Food?** | [Progressive Grocer](https://progressivegrocer.com/specialty-food-association-incorporates-good-food-foundation-programs?ref=thechocolatelife.com) The Good Food Foundation board initiated the integration process in 2024 “to ensure the continuation of the Good Food brand” with SFA support. In other words, long‑term viability and continuity of the Awards, Mercantile, and related programs. The handover is framed as being motivated by the Good Food Foundation’s need for an institutional home to secure the brand and by SFA’s desire to expand its reach, events portfolio, and member value while keeping the Good Food ethos and standards intact. | --- ### **Future Episodes** 🗓️ Friday, May 15th The 2026/7th Edition Chocolate Scorecard deep dive. --- ### **Episode Hashtags** #News #AMA #AskMeAnything #cocoa #cacao #cacau #chocolate #chocolat #craftchocolate #PodSaveChoc #PSC #LaVidaCocoa #TheChocolateLife --- ### **#PodSaveChocolate and #TheChocolateLifeLIVE Archives** **To read an archived post** and find the links to watch archived episodes, click on one of the bookmark cards, below. [Pod Save Chocolate Calendar and ArchiveNews, views, and conversations on topics in cocoa and chocolate streamed live to YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook. #PodSaveChocolate!![](https://thechocolatelife.com/content/images/size/w256h256/2020/12/JR_Pods60x60FavIconCutoutButtons.png)The Chocolate LifeClay Gordon![](https://thechocolatelife.com/content/images/2023/11/TagImageBanner-PodSaveChocTagFinal_1920x1080-5.jpg)](https://thechocolatelife.com/pod-save-chocolate-calendar-and-archive/) [#TheChocolateLifeLIVE ArchiveNews, views, and conversations on topics in cocoa and chocolate streamed live to YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook.![](https://thechocolatelife.com/content/images/size/w256h256/2020/12/JR_Pods60x60FavIconCutoutButtons.png)The Chocolate LifeClay Gordon![](https://thechocolatelife.com/content/images/2023/03/solen-feyissa-WG7v_wYZW4Q-unsplash-CalendarFeatured1920x1080.jpg)](https://thechocolatelife.com/thechocolatelife-live-calendar/) ⁉️ After a year-long+ experiment, the audio-only versions of PodSaveChocolate episodes have been taken down after an end-of-year review. There were not enough listens to continue uploading episodes and paying for hosting. --- ## Not a Member? Live The Chocolate Life – Live La Vida Cocoa! Sign up for ****Free** to comment and receive members-only content. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. 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