CNN Money is reporting that the milk chocolate index, a marketing index that tracks commodities like cocoa butter, sugar and all that other stuff that goes into making chocolate, has risen 10 percent over last Easter. The data was provided by U.K.-based data company Mintec.
Mondelez, Hershey’s, Lindt and Nestle, major bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturers have all announced raising their wholesale prices over the past two years, says WTVR.com Richmond. The global market research firm, Euromonitor International, confirms the price increases, saying companies are either raising sticker prices or making their candy bars smaller.
Weather problems for cocoa producers
A devastating fungal disease forced cocoa production to move from many Central and South American countries to West Africa where 60 percent of the world’s cocoa comes from today. Ivory Coast is the top producer, followed by Ghana at second place. However, between August and October, key months in the cocoa growing cycle, Ghana saw its lowest amount of rainfall since 1999.
Additionally, reports Uncova.com, the dry, dusty Harmattan winds that blow down from the Sahara Desert arrived a month early. They usually arrive sometime between December and March. Instead, the winds brought clouds and cool temperatures at the wrong time.
Production isn’t going to be any better in South America this year. The El Nino weather phenomenon brought droughts to the cocoa production areas. El Nino also caused droughts in Indonesia, another cocoa producing country. All this has resulted in a global production shortfall of 113,000 tons of cocoa for the 2015/2016 season, says the International Cocoa Organization.
Asia overtakes North America in chocolate consumption
According to Euromonitor International, consumers in Asia and India have found their sweet tooth. Euromonitor analyst Jack Skelly told Reuters in February that “In emerging markets like China and India I think affordability is a real issue which means chocolate isn’t growing as quickly as it could.” However, those countries are expected to overtake North America in the consumption of cocoa products by 2017.
