Baptiste Morin // Photo credits: 10:27 a.m., March 29, 2024
Brown gold has never lived up to its name so well. A few days before the Easter weekend, chocolate exceeded $10,000 per ton this Tuesday in New York. Inflation is limited for the moment, but may be felt on the shelves within a few months.
Cocoa now costs more than copper: the price per tonne has exceeded the $10,000 mark – some 9,200 euros – on the New York market. And this a few days before Easter. If cocoa prices jump, it is because supply has fallen. Ivory Coast and Ghana, the two main world producers, suffered torrential rains which favored diseases before going through periods of drought.
“Almost 140%” increase in the price of cocoa
Head of market research at eToro, Antoine Fraysse-Soulier explains: "I don't remember having an increase of this magnitude. When the war in Ukraine started, we had a surge in certain materials agricultural commodities, notably wheat. We had progressed by 50%, but now we are looking at an increase of almost 140% for cocoa.
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Inflation: faced with the surge in cocoa, chocolatiers are adapting before Easter
This explosion in prices will be reflected in stores within several months. Inflation will therefore be limited at Easter this year, assures Gilles Rouvière, general secretary of the chocolate union. He estimates that the increase in the selling price will be "5% on average in stores", compared to "130% increase in the price of cocoa". He specifies: "We must not mix the two. One is controlled and the other explodes."
However, some chocolatiers are not hiding future increases. This is the case for example of the Swiss Lindt, which has already announced an increase of 5% compared to 2023. Others could opt for re-flation, that is to say not increase their prices , but reduce the quantities.