If you buy chocolate for Easter nest this year, you pay much more and you get less. Record prices for cocoa on the world market are reflected in chocolate rabbits, chicks and co. “We see the chocolate market for a wave of inflation that has hardly occurred in recent history,” warns the American investment bank JPMorgan.
According to data from the Federal Statistical Office, consumers in Germany receive less chocolate for each euro than five years ago. Lindt’s popular “Gold Bunny” from Lindt costs more than four euros for the first time.
Milka reduced packages and makes them more expensive
On average, plates are almost a third more expensive than in the previous year, as figures from the NIQ market researcher show for the first quarter. The Ritter Sport Alpine Milk Variety now costs 1.89 euros instead of 1.49. And proponents of the consumer recently opted for “Milka” from the Mondelez Group for “Mogue Pack of the Month”: while the purple table is shrinking from 100 to 90 grams, the price grew from 1.49 to 1.99 euros.
Climate change led to cocoa crisis
According to experts, the times of cheap cocoals are finally over. West -Africa, where a good three -quarters of all beans come from, feel climate change. Weather dishes, vermin and mismanagement do the price. The harvest in Ghana collapsed by almost half in 2024 – the worst in two decades – and recovers less than hoped this year. The Ivory Coast also reported bitter falls. The Ton Cacao was traded in 2024 to around 12,000 euros, six times as expensive as a few years ago.
Cocoa is sensitive. Too hot, too moist, too little rain, too much wind: everything can ruin the harvest. The weather in West -Africa, where desert wind and rainy months alternate, was perfect for a long time. Now it becomes unpredictable. “In 20 or 30 years there may no longer be a cocoa from West -Africa,” says the British expert in the field of raw material Tedd George. “Even with moderate heat scenarios it becomes too dry and too complex.”
This year it rained too late in Ghana. The rain came too early for last season, mushrooms and vermin spread to the trees. In Ghana, around 13 million sick cocoa trees had to be reduced after information in the industry last year. It takes a maximum of five years for new trees to bear fruit. It cannot afford to replace the outdated inventory on time.
Farmers get much less than they need to survive
From the supermarket prices, cocoa farmers only receive nine percent, according to a study of 2022, which called the British NGO Oxfam. According to a new Oxfam report, the farmers of Ghana earn less than half of what they need to survive. “Cocoa is a market in which producers produce a very valuable active active, but only receive a very small part of the actual value creation,” says AgrarroHyroll Strategin Tracey Allen of the American investment bank JPMorganan.
Fewer chocolate rabbits or less chocolate in the rabbit
For chocolate lovers, cocoa expert Tedd George sees a frightening scenario: the candy itself could change. “It will still look the same and taste, but it will contain less and worse cocoa,” he says. Manufacturers are already experimenting with recipes to replace cocoa butter with cotton seed oil.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
