Valentine’s Day, Easter and now Halloween. Confectionery retailers need to get creative this holiday season in ways to deal with cocoa shortages and high prices. As a result, consumers are finding smaller packages of chocolate bars or more non-chocolate treats on store shelves.
One of the solutions is to reduce the size of the product, which is a practice that consumers in the Czech Republic have been dealing with lately. Another option is to change the composition, when the chocolate component can be replaced with wafers or nuts.
“There are products that can be filled with something else because then you don’t need to have as much chocolate to make them,” she said CNN Sally Lyons Wyatt, Senior Consultant, Consumer Packaged Goods, Circana.
Chocolate will become more expensive by tens of percent. Or it will be smaller
Economic
According to the company Mars, which in addition to chocolate bars is also behind brands such as Skittles and M&M’s, the preferences of the customers themselves are also changing. Although chocolate products still remain dominant, the demand for fruit and gummy sweets is growing among young consumers. Mars is expanding their offer during Halloween.
The trend is also confirmed by data from analysts, who record growth in sales and production of non-cocoa products. Sales of non-chocolate confectionery in the U.S. grew by 12.1 percent last year, outpacing the growth of chocolate sales (5.8 percent), CNN referred to message National Association of Confectioners.
Still, chocolate doesn’t just disappear. Last year, it accounted for more than half of total sales of confectionery, the NCA added. “Consumers are buying less than they did in the past, but chocolate is still the best-selling category,” added Lyons Wyatt.
A drop in production of almost 15 percent
Since its spring highs, when one ton on the New York Stock Exchange at one time was sold for more than 11,000 dollars (CZK 256,000), the price of cocoa has stabilized in the range of seven to eight thousand dollars in the last two months. But even that is twice the value from the autumn of last year.
The cause of such a sharp increase in price was the natural conditions, which were quite unfavorable for cocoa cultivation in the last three years. Key regions of West Africa, where up to 70 percent of the world’s cocoa supply is grown, were hit by the El Niño phenomenon, which brought warmer temperatures and drought, followed by torrential rains that spread a fungal disease among cocoa trees, leading to lower production.
As a result, the International Cocoa Organization predicted in August that global cocoa production would drop by 14.2 percent this season.
High commodity prices have already affected the economic results of the chocolate giant Hershey, whose operating profit fell by almost 49 percent year-on-year in the second quarter.
According to analysts and cocoa traders, prices are expected to remain at record high levels until September 2025. At least the good news is that the upcoming harvest should be better, as the weather so far favors cocoa growers.
The weather and European regulations make coffee and chocolate more expensive
Economic
Chocolate Crisis: The Squeeze on Sweet Treats
Ah, the timeless delight of chocolate! A treat that once melted hearts and engaged taste buds is now caught in a drama more intense than a soap opera! With Valentine’s Day, Easter, and now Halloween in the mix, confectionery retailers are like magicians, trying to pull off a cute rabbit out of an empty top hat. Because let’s face it, cocoa shortages are playing hard-to-get!
Big Chocolate Dilemma!
So, chocolate’s taking a hit. We’ve got smaller packages on the shelves than a daredevil magician’s disappearing act! It’s like chocolate used to be this well-endowed giant and now… poof! It’s been on a diet that is more about calorie cutting than costume wearing. In the Czech Republic, it seems folks have already been practicing the chocolate shrink-ray with mini bars replacing their once grand friends.
In an ingenious twist, chocolate is now playing a game of culinary musical chairs—tossing about wafers and nuts to fill that chocolaty void. Is this how chocolate has finally decided to embrace its nutty side? Just when you thought chocolate couldn’t get any sweeter, it threw in some extra crunch. Thanks, Sally Lyons Wyatt from Circana, for this gem of insight! Who knew chocolate could be this playful?
The Bitter Truth About Prices
Let’s get down to brass tacks, shall we? Mars—the grand wizards of candy—revealed that consumers have switched gears faster than a formula one driver in a pit stop. Gummy bears and fruity treats are winning the hearts (and stomachs) of our youth! I mean, what’s next? Telling chocolate it has to lose even more weight to keep up?
Sales figures are showing this fruity trend—growing by 12.1% while chocolate lags behind at a measly 5.8%. At this rate, chocolate might soon be fitting into a toddler’s costume rather than wearing its usual regal robe of decadence! But don’t start pouring out the milk just yet; chocolate still holds the crown with over half of confectionery sales. Just like a classic sitcom, it’s still popular but might have to share the screen a bit more!
Weather Woes and Cocoa’s Complainers
Now let’s take a trip down to the cocoa fields—where nature’s mischief is causing chaos! With cocoa still playing shy, the prices have doubled since last fall, leaving many chocolate giants with operating profits falling faster than my attempts at comedy! There’s been a drop in production of nearly 15% which sounds about as appealing as a broken heart on Valentine’s Day.
The bad weather is throwing cocoa trees a tantrum. El Niño is doing its thing, making the cocoa plants sweat, then weep! If these trees had social media, they’d probably be trending under #CocoaCrisis—forever complaining about the torrential rains and fungus that just knew how to crash the party. If this keeps up, we might find ourselves at the confectionery bar, sticking to gummy bears and fruit chews like they’re the last lifeboat on the Titanic!
Sweet Hope on the Horizon
But before you stage a full-blown cocoa crisis protest, there’s a glimmer of hope! Farmers are saying that the upcoming harvest might be looking a bit more favorable. Maybe they should send us chocolates as good news—is that a thing? So, brace yourselves everyone! If nature bounces back, perhaps we can reclaim some of that glorious chocolate goodness and have our M&Ms back on the throne—chocolate crown and all!
In conclusion, while the chocolate saga unfolds, let’s raise a toast to our beloved confectionery! Here’s hoping we all see more of our chocolatey friends—and if it means sharing the spotlight with gummy bears, so be it! So, dear sweet-tooth friends, keep your eyes peeled and wallets ready—chocolate might be hiding but it sure isn’t going anywhere anytime soon!
