Chocolate Prices Are Skyrocketing Again And Americans Have These Factors To Blame

Valentine's Day is nearly here, but this year there is less cause to celebrate. The price of chocolate has risen so steeply that it will upset many consumers. "This Valentine's Day, expect prices for chocolate treats to increase around 10-20% over last year as the price of cocoa has more than doubled since the beginning of 2024," warned Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute Sector Manager David Branch in a CNN report.

The cocoa prices reached an all time high of $12,646 a metric ton in December 2024. As a result, the Producer Price Index revealed that chocolate manufacturing costs have jumped by over 167% in only the past two years. Branch opined that "It really is a mess." Chocolate costs could be one of the sneaky reasons your grocery bill keeps going up.

Cocoa prices are skyrocketing for several reasons. Americans can blame the problems on weather issues in the cocoa-growing countries of West Africa. Years of drought in several important cocoa growing countries there started causing the problems. They have only been made worse by the cocoa swollen shoot virus disease that has hindered production further.

The typical response from chocolate producers has been to raise prices. Swiss chocolate maker Lindt has increased retail costs for 2024 and anticipates that this pricing trend will stretch into 2025. Lindt blamed the price increases on "record-hgh cocoa costs, substantial price increases, and weakened consumer sentiment," according to CNN. The Lindt Valentine's heart chocolate truffles now retail for $21.99 for a 5.7 ounce box. The company's price raise in line with why Walmart's CEO predicts grocery prices will rise in 2025.

British global chocolatier Cadbury and Swiss Toblerone are seeing similar price increases. Mondelez International owns these two brands. CEO Dirk Van de Put referenced "unprecedented cocoa cost inflation" for the year in the company's 2024 Q4 company earnings report.

Hershey's stands out as a relatively lone exception to the chocolate makers' bad news. The American chocolatier purchases its cocoa approximately a year ahead. Its Valentine's Day store pricing will not take the cocoa prices of today into account. Their one pound Hershey's chocolate bar sells for $14.99 this holiday. Hershey's released a statement saying, "We continue to collaborate with our retail partners to ensure we offer a variety of products that meet the right occasions and price points for our customers."

The overwhelming majority of cocoa beans grow in West Africa. According to Branch, Ghana and the Ivory Coast account for 70% of global cocoa. Unfortunately these West African countries have seen sharp production declines due to inescapable drought and chocolate plant disease.

"Every time we get rain in West Africa, the futures change. People are watching it that close. It's just crazy," Branch stated. In fact the cocoa futures that determine prices on the coming cocoa crop have risen by 143% in the past year alone.

As CNN reported, the problem according to Branch is that it takes from four to six years for new cocoa trees to be ready to harvest. Other nations including Ecuador may be moving into cocoa production. Despite this, as Branch warned, there is "a long-term solution, but not an immediate fix. There's still a lot of uncertainty in the market as to whether the harvests are going to be sufficient to erase this deficit with increased demand continuing to go up."