Days before Halloween, the price of cocoa, and therefore chocolate bars, is up. But Ebola isn't actually threatening the cocoa supply in West Africa, says commodities trader David Martin. Instead, the market is reacting to human fears, and for traders…

Jul 14

Swiss chocolate giant Lindt & Spruengli agreed on a billion-dollar deal to buy U.S. candy maker Russell Stover. The partnership makes Lindt the third largest chocolate maker in North America behind Hershey and Mars, owning 7.9 percent of the market.

Chocolate maker Mars Inc. will fund a five year, $10 million project to map the cocoa bean genome -- work that could lead to hardier, higher-yielding crops and better quality chocolate, the company announced Thursday.