Your favorite chocolate bar will soon come with a bigger price tag after Hershey announced it was raising the price of its candy over the high cost of cocoa.
Hershey is expected to raise its prices for retail customers by double digits. Prices will generally increase between the low teens and 20 percent, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing a company official.
But the WSJ reports three-quarters of the candy maker’s products should continue to cost $4 or less.
Hershey executives have said demand for its products has remained strong, per the WSJ.
The company has yet to see its full profits for the summer, when consumers are inclined to grab a pack of Hershey’s bars for S’mores by the fire.
High cocoa costs are to blame for the price increases at Hershey and other treat companies.
Last December, cocoa prices hit over $12,000 per metric ton, according to the WSJ. While costs have fallen to about $8,100 per metric ton this week, they still exceed historic levels.
West Africa, which accounts for about 70 percent of the world’s cocoa supply, has been hit with poor weather, plant disease, aging tree stocks and destructive small-scale gold mining.
While weather conditions have slightly improved, industry sources told Reuters earlier this month West Africa will likely see another 10 percent decline in cocoa output in the 2025 to 2026 season.
The WSJ reported in another recent article Swiss chocolatier Lindt & Spruengli had attempted to pass rising cocoa costs onto consumers through price hikes, but even that wasn’t enough to make up for the higher cocoa costs.
Mondelez International, the owner of Oreo and Cadbury, also announced earlier this year it was expecting to increase chocolate prices because of higher cocoa costs, the WSJ reported in February.
