Sweet too expensive –
An ever more expensive cocoa that melts chocolate demand
Since 2023, the price of cocoa has continued to increase, with meager fallout for farmers.
The price of cocoa melts chocolate sales.
KEYSTONE
Bitter, (very) sweet, orange, pistachio… We know this national icon under a thousand and one flavors: chocolate. But its industry crossing turbulence. The world leader in chocolate products, Barry Callebaut, has seen his sales fall, says “time”.
Between September 2024 and May 2025, Barry Callebaut saw his volumes fall to 1.66 million tonnes of products, which represents a drop of 6.3% compared to the previous year. How to understand this fall? It is a matter of inflation: cocoa prices have simply flambé (+43% over a year), which prompted customers and consumers to reduce their purchases, especially in Western Europe and North America.
Cocoa always more expensive
Since the end of 2023, cocoa prices keep climbing. In question, a shortage of the product, caused by a general decrease in its production in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. In these countries, cocoa trees are undermined by drought and formidable diseases such as the swollen shoot or brown rot.
In addition, “Time” specifies that the increase in the price of cocoa beans only benefits local farmers, whose income only increases modestly despite the records reached in the London and New York markets. The newspaper also recalls that, in the past, this low remuneration has pushed many planters from West Africa to abandon the cultivation of cocoa, even more weakening the world supply.
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