Juliette Mély / Photo credit: Juliette Mély 6:17 a.m., March 28, 2024
With Easter just a few days away, it's time to stock up on chocolates. But this year they will have a particular flavor: the taste of inflation. Cocoa has increased by 200% in one year. So to compensate, some artisan chocolate makers pass on their prices, others cut back on their margins.
Inflation spares no one. Over one year, cocoa saw a significant increase in its prices, with an increase of 200%. As a result, this has an impact on the price of chocolate, a few days before Easter, and this is felt by artisans. On the counter of the "L'artisan du chocolat" boutique in Evecquemont in Yvelines, two paper bags that Annie fills with chocolate eggs, figurines and spreads. In total, this grandmother of five grandchildren paid 123 euros. “Easter is exceptional so we make the effort to spend more to please the children, although it remains very expensive for us,” explains the retiree.
Maintaining prices: a temporary solution
So that his customers do not give up Easter chocolate, Abdel, the owner of the shop, has kept the same prices as last year. He compensates for the surge in cocoa by reducing his margins "I am worried, like many of my fellow chocolatiers because in the entire history of cocoa, we have never seen such a high curve and we do not know if prices will return to a normal level,” confides the chocolatier. But if prices continue to rise, the artisan expects a 7 to 10% increase in his chocolate in October.
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A decision that Christophe, a regular, understands. “If he needs to increase his price, I think I would still buy from him because I clearly take more pleasure in eating chocolate that comes from here than from other brands,” he admits to micro d'Europe 1. Ultimately, Abdel fears that chocolate will become a luxury product, only enjoyed on certain special occasions.