Published: April 1, 2015

UPDATE: Wed, April 1, 12:00 p.m.: It's your lucky day. Chocolate is not running out today or in the near future, so remove that chocolate bar from your face. Happy April Fools' Day, from Mashable Australia and Finder.

There are global fears the end of chocolate is near and this may be our last Easter with the milky goodness.

New Australian analysis shows the cocoa crisis is expected to take hold by 2015, instead of the previously forecasted 2020, leaving a bleak outlook for chocolate lovers across the world.

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Financial comparison website finder.com.au led the research, which shows critically low levels of cocoa are expected by the end of the year. Production is expected to fall to less than half of the levels seen this time last year.

Demand outpaced supply in 2011, when 750,000 metric tonnes more chocolate was consumed than was produced in the same year, according to the World Cocoa Foundation.

This figure is set to worsen this year due to a huge demand in China, with the country averaging 10% growth year-on-year between 2006 and 2010. The industry in China is about to reach US$1.8 billion (A$2.35 billion) in 2015, according to Finder's predictions.

The production of cocoa globally is estimated at 4.4 million tonnes in 2014, with 70% of that production occurring in Africa. Pests and diseases devastate an estimated 30%-40% of global production each year, lowering global supplies.

Although cocoa consumption in China is strong, the most problematic chocolate consumers are in Switzerland, with 9 kilograms per capita eaten in 2014, and Germany, which chows down 7.9 kilograms per capita. Australia is 14th on the list of chocoholics.

Image: Finder.com.au / Euromonitor International

Fred Schebesta, co-founder and director of finder.com.au, said he wasn’t surprised by the higher volume of online searches for chocolate bars.

“We’re already seeing prices increasing as demand is unable to keep up with supply. Many people are starting to stockpile chocolate and there’s talk of synthetic chocolate being developed.

“So when we saw that it could be the last Easter with real chocolate and more people are searching for their chocolate answers online, we immediately saw this opportunity for people to get the best possible return on their chocolate investment."

The company has created a chocolate comparison site, so consumers can find out the different quantities of cocoa in each bar, a major consideration for serious investors.