Shortly before Easter

Chocolate prices rise: Raw cocoa at record high

Chocolate Easter bunnies are likely to cost a lot more this year than last year ...(Bild: dpa-Zentralbild/Patrick Pleul)

Consumers must be prepared for more expensive chocolate. The price of a tonne of cocoa has reached an all-time high of almost 5,500 euros and has therefore risen significantly compared to previous years. But that's not all: classic chocolate bars could become smaller in the future - if the price remains the same or rises ...

At the beginning of January, the price was still below 4000 euros, in February last year it was below 2500 euros. According to experts, the reason for the rapid price increase is a shortage of supply, partly due to climate-related extreme weather events.

Lower yields due to increasing heat
Prolonged periods of drought, heavy rainfall, flooding and plant diseases have recently led to significantly lower yields or even completely destroyed harvests in growing countries such as the Ivory Coast and Ghana.

Chocolate Easter bunnies are likely to cost a lot more this year than last year ...(Bild: dpa-Zentralbild/Patrick Pleul)

Demand greater than supply
The confectionery industry is complaining about the sharp rise in costs. According to the Federal Association of the German Confectionery Industry (BDSI), EU sugar was 72% more expensive in 2023 than in the previous year, cocoa butter rose by 52% and cocoa by 43%. Retailers are cautious when it comes to prices and do not want to say anything for competitive reasons. Global demand is significantly greater than supply. It is also possible that the classic chocolate bar is becoming smaller than it is with the same or rising costs.

A spokesperson for chocolate manufacturer Ritter Sport explained: "A kilo of cocoa is almost three euros more expensive than it was a year ago. Anyone can work out for themselves what this means for the production costs of a 100-gram chocolate bar, which contains between 35 and 70 percent cocoa, but we are currently assessing the situation as a whole."

Austrians love chocolate

On average, Austrians eat eight kilograms of confectionery a year, two kilograms of which are chocolate bars. Compared to the British and the Swiss, they are almost foodies, with eleven kilos of confectionery. The Chinese, on the other hand, are spartan with just 0.1 kilograms. The annual per capita consumption of chocolate products in Germany in 2023 was 9.3 kilograms.

Michele Buck, CEO of the US company Hershey, one of the world's largest confectionery manufacturers, recently did not rule out a price increase. "Given the current cocoa price environment, we will use every tool in our toolbox, including pricing, to manage the business," she said.