The days of chocolate bars as an inexpensive sweet fix are long gone. The cost of chocolate ingredients continues to rise, even among the largest producers in the world.
In the past month, two candy giants, Mars and Hershey, have announced increases in the prices of chocolate products by 7 percent and 8 percent, respectively. A combination of increasing global demand and decreasing supply has led to the unforeseen surge in supply cost.
The price hikes are driven by the rise in the cost of cocoa beans. Cocoa production has decreased in recent years, due to unreliable supplies caused by everything from political unrest to climate change in supply countries. Meanwhile, demand has increased, particularly in emerging markets like Asia; in North America and Europe, the craving for dark chocolate has risen 31 percent since 2008.
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