BellaBoo

Chocolate lasts almost forever. The white coating is called Bloom and doesn't affect the chocolate. Chocolate is good unless it get wormy. Yes, there are chocolate worms! I suggest stocking up on cocoa powder, regular and dutch, and good fudge recipes. Easier to keep and lasts decades.

starshine

Well, if the price goes up they'll keep making it because it will then be more profitable than whatever they were going to grow instead. So first we should buy the cocoa orchard or farm at a low price and maybe stock in a good freezer company, Hoard as much chocolate as we can to ride out the price hike from the price going up, then by the time our freezers are getting empty the prices will have come back down and we can buy it at a normal price. And the cocoa producers may have learned not to abandon us.