Cocoa price soars to new record, sparking fears of more expensive chocolate

12 February 2024 , 11:45

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Cocoa prices have hit a record high which could lead to further increases in the price of bars of chocolate (Image: PA Archive/PA Images)

Cocoa prices have hit a record high, sparking fears that the cost of a chocolate bar could rise.

The price of the popular commodity has surged by over 40% in just the last month, reaching £4,909 per metric tonne on Friday, up from £3,443 on January 9. On Friday alone, the price jumped by more than 5% on London's ICE exchange. Last year, cocoa prices were around £1,904, and Cadbury's warned last month that it was having to make "carefully considered price increases".

In response to a customer on X, formerly Twitter, Cadbury's said: "Making changes to the price of our products is always a last resort, however, costs across our supply chain have risen steeply," The company added: "Core ingredients we heavily rely on, like cocoa and sugar are a lot more expensive, while the cost of energy, packaging, and transport also remain high."

As a result, Cadbury's is making some price increases across its range to continue providing consumers with their favourite brands without compromising on taste or quality. Nestle announced earlier this week that it would no longer produce Breakaway and Yorkie biscuit bars due to falling sales. On Thursday, US producer Hershey's revealed plans to cut costs by £238 million and warned it would miss market forecasts.

Michele Buck, the boss of the Hershey Company, has warned that chocolate prices may have to rise due to increasing cocoa costs. Last year, a study by Which? revealed that the cost of festive chocolate boxes had shot up by at least 50% compared to the previous year.

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By the end of last year, the price of chocolate was rising nearly twice as fast as other food and drink in supermarkets. Galaxy has reduced the size of its Smooth Milk bar from 110g to 100g, while the price had jumped from 99p to £1.25 in Tesco. As of Friday, a 110g Galaxy bar was priced at £1.35 on Tesco's website.

Lawrence Matheson