As the Ebola scare spread throughout the world, more and more people begin to dread the effects of the outbreak as the virus now threatens the global supply of chocolate.

The worsening condition of the Ebola outbreak is threatening the chocolate industry. West Africa's Ivory Coast recently shut its borders to prevent the spread of the virus neighboring African states such as Liberia and Guinea.

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The border shutdown resulted in manpower shortage and skyrocketing chocolate prices.

The Ivory Coast, also known as Côte D'Ivoire, is considered the world's largest producer of chocolate's raw ingredient from West Africa. It supplies mainstream chocolate brands such as M&M's, Snickers and Butterfingers, producing about 1.6 million metric tons of cacao beans annually.

Together with Ghana, the cacao-producing country is yet to report a single Ebola case, although both have already felt the outbreak's toll as the harvest season begins.

According to experts, cacao bean prices will soar beyond a three and a half year high and will affect retail prices of many chocolate brands if the disease is not controlled.

To avoid a shortage of cacao, the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) decided to join the international fight against the widespread disease.

According to the Politico, the WCF is currently collecting huge donations from its 113 members and major chocolate companies such as Nestle, Mars and many others to fund its Coca Industry Response to Ebola Initiative.

The WCF has yet to unveil to the public details about the initiative as its plans to announce how the money will be delivered to Red Cross and Caritas Internationalis on Wednesday during an annual meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Despite this, some companies have already pledged support for the project including New Jersey-based Morristown promising $100,000 for the project as Mars expressed its enthusiasm about the initiative.

"We look forward to the WCF partnership meeting in Copenhagen next week where we will learn more about the industry effort," Mars revealed in a statement.

Tagschocolate, Ivory Coast, cacao, West Africa