Chocolate lovers, brace yourselves: prices are rising, but not forever

Chocolate lovers face another run of price rises as a lag impact from the cocoa market hits retailers — but better news may be in store by next Easter.

Cocoa prices have soared in recent years, hitting record highs amid adverse weather conditions, pest outbreaks and supply tightness in West Africa, which produces around three-quarters of global supply.

That trend has combined with broader retail price inflation around the world which is pushing up costs for consumers and denting demand for sweet treats in the process. A 2024 survey by U.K. consumer group Which? found chocolate products were the category with the highest average annual inflation rate in grocery stores last year, at 11%. In the U.S., the price of popular products such as Hershey's Kisses similarly jumped around 12% year-on-year.

Adalbert Lechner, head of Swiss giant , told CNBC in April he doesn't think cocoa prices “will ever come down to the levels where they have been before.”

Cocoa futures have remained choppy but overall eased this year, falling from $8,177 per metric ton at the start of January to around $7,855 in August. That compares with $2,374 three years ago.