Cocoa prices surged almost 300 percent last year, making chocolate bars, Easter eggs and cocoa powder much more expensive this year than last.In the United States, retail chocolate prices were one-fifth higher this Valentine’s Day compared with last year, according to Wells Fargo Bank. The price of a king-size US-sold Reese’s Hearts chocolate bar was 13 percent higher in February 2024 than in the same month the year before.
In the United Kingdom, meanwhile, a Twix white chocolate Easter egg rose in price from 5 to 6 pounds ($6.63 to $7.96) at Tesco supermarkets in the run-up to Easter (year-on-year) and was reduced in size from 316g (11oz) to 258g (9oz). In all, the unit price rose by a whopping 47 percent.
While the price of cocoa – the key ingredient in chocolate made from roasted raw cacao beans – has fallen back by about 20 percent since its all-time high in December 2024, consumers are still paying record prices for chocolate.
The spike in the price of cocoa can be chalked up to several factors. Chief among them is extreme weather, which has hit cocoa producers in West Africa, from where most of the world imports cocoa. Advertisement
According to Amber Sawyer, an analyst at the environmental think tank Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), expensive chocolate should not come as a surprise.
“Chocolate is just one of the many foods …
