Because of the high cost of cocoa, consumers will soon have to spend more money on chocolate. “Increased raw material prices and wages will lead to cost increases, which will be passed on to consumers,” said Solveig Schneider, deputy managing director of the Federal Association of the German Confectionery Industry (BDSI).
A spokesperson for the chocolate manufacturer Ritter Sport explained: “A kilo of cocoa is almost three euros more than it was a year ago. Everyone can calculate for themselves what the production costs of a 100 gram chocolate bar are. 35 and 70 percent cocoa “but we are currently assessing the situation overall.” Ritter Sport did not want to comment on possible price increases for antitrust reasons.
Michael Pugh, chairman of the American company Hershey, one of the world's largest candy manufacturers, did not rule out a recent price hike. “In the current situation with cocoa prices, we will use every tool in our toolbox, including pricing, to manage the business,” he said while presenting the group's financial figures in mid-February. Swiss food giant Nestlé has not ruled out further price hikes.
Raw cocoa is at record highs
The price of raw cocoa rose below €5,500 a tonne on commodity exchanges in February. The price was under 4,000 euros in early January and was under 2,500 euros in February last year. According to experts, the reason for the rapid rise in prices is the lack of supply, and the result of climate-related extreme weather events. Prolonged droughts, heavy rains, floods and plant diseases have recently led to significantly lower yields or wiped out harvests in developing countries such as Ivory Coast and Ghana.
