12 Feb 2024 --- Ahead of Valentine’s Day, El Niño dry spells in West Africa have sent chocolate prices soaring to a record high. Currently, the average global price of cocoa sits at around US$4.4 per kg, a 67.55% increase year-on-year and a 4.48% jump compared to December 2023, as revealed by data from the World Bank’s International Cocoa Organization. Pressured supplies for the confectionery sector are sparking dialogue among food businesses surrounding an imminent surge for the price of a consumer favorite. Mirroring a common theme among other consumer-packaged F&B segments, confectionery companies in the last year have relied upon price increases to keep dollar sales growing and have seen notable declines in volume sales.
