The world could face a chocolate shortage as demand for the sweet treat rises in developing countries, a report has warned.

Hunger for the product is booming but supply has dropped due to poor farming methods, according to new study Destruction by Chocolate.

The typical Westerner eats an average of 286 chocolate bars a year, which means producers need to plant an average of 10 cacao trees for every chocolate-lover.

But, Doug Hawkins, from research firm Hardman Agribusiness, said production of cocoa is under strain as farming methods have not changed for hundreds of years.

He claimed that 90 per cent of the global cocoa crop is “produced by smallholders on subsistence farms with unimproved planting material”.

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He added: "All the indicators are that we could be looking at a chocolate deficit of 100,000 tonnes a year in the next few years."

Hope is not completely lost for romantics hoping to receive chocolate on Valentine's Day in years to come, however, as farmers in South America are developing new methods which could solve the problem.

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Mr Hawkins said: "We are seeing in Latin America, particularly in Ecuador, farmers who are saying, 'Let's bring it into the 21st century, let's rethink this crop'.

"That's what is happening - these are highly professional farms producing cocoa in an efficient way."