Asian countries have been developing a chocolate habit that will create the longest shortfall in over fifty years.

It it predicted that cocoa consumption will outstrip production by about 70,000 metric tons in the 12 months that began on 1st October and the deficits will continue through 2018. According to Laurent Pipitone, the head of statistics at the International Cocoa Organisation in London, the six-year long deficit would be the longest one since collection of data began in 1960. By the end of 2014 prices may gain as much as 15 percent to $3,200 a ton, according the median estimates of 14 traders surveyed by Bloomberg.

Sales of confectionery chocolate around the world are expected to increase by 2.1 percent to a record 7.3 million tons next year, following a 2 percent increase in 2013, according to Euromonitor International Ltd. Chinese sales more than doubled over the last decade, growing at a higher pace than Western Europe gains. Chocolate makers such as Nestle SA, Barry Callebaut AG and Lindt & Spruengi AG will be faced with higher costs too on account of lower supplies.

Cocoa has already climbed 24 percent this year to $2,771 a ton on ICE Futures U.S. New York, marking the second-greatest advance among the 24 commodities monitored by the Standard & Poor’s GSCI gauge, which had an overall drop of 3.4 percent.