Why Is Chocolate So Expensive? Cocoa Fell 70%

Cocoa lost nearly 70% of its price in the year to February 2026. Over the same stretch, chocolate at US stores cost 14% more than a year before. Who was keeping the difference? This video follows the beans from a wet December in West Africa, through a record price, a virus in the trees and a fixed price for farmers, to the shelf. The farmer in it is a stand-in for the many smallholders who grow cocoa, not one real person. It explains how the numbers moved. It does not tell you what to buy. What this covers: How rain, then El Nino drought, cut West African output in 2023/24 Why cocoa passed $9,000 a ton in March 2024 and peaked at $11,984 in December 2024 How swollen shoot disease limits the harvest even when the weather is good What Ivory Coast and Ghana paid farmers, against the world price How Lindt, Nestle and Hershey raised prices in 2025 Why shelf prices were still rising in early 2026 while cocoa fell The story behind the thing. Narration is computer-generated (text-to-speech); research, script and drawings are original. Wren S O U R C E S MARKET PRICES AND MAKERS Hershey and other chocolate makers hike prices as cocoa remains near record highs (Associated Press, July 23, 2025) https://www.clickondetroit.com/busine... - the December 2024 peak of $11,984, $7,380 on July 23, 2025, Hershey's low double-digit increase, Lindt's 15.8%, Nestle's chip prices, Cloetta's second-quarter rise, the early-June surge and the 121% figure against two years earlier, NielsenIQ's $2.43 and $3.45 bar prices and the 1.2% unit-sales fall. Chocolate prices likely to remain at a record high for 2024 (Food Navigator, Feb 16, 2024) https://www.confectionerynews.com/Art... - the early 2024 record in London. The $9,000 late-March 2024 level comes from New York futures coverage of the time. FORECAST AND SHELF PRICES Cocoa prices to drop by more than 50% in 2026 (Citi Newsroom, April 2026) https://www.citinewsroom.com/2026/04/... - the World Bank forecast of about $7.80 a kilogram in 2025 and $3.80 in 2026. Figures are from press coverage; the 2027 figure of about $4.20 is from the same coverage; the full report was not read. Falling cocoa prices won't necessarily mean cheaper Valentine's Day chocolates (AP, Feb 13, 2026) https://www.news4jax.com/business/202... - cocoa down nearly 70% in a year, Datasembly's 14% and 7.8% retail rises, Hershey holding prices, the Mondelez comment and the November tariff change. FARMERS Ivory Coast raises cocoa farmgate price by 20% (Checkout.ie) https://www.checkout.ie/supply-chain/... - the 1,800 CFA franc (about $3.09) price per kilogram from October 1, 2024, the 25% fall in West African output in 2023/24 and the 2,200 CFA franc mid-crop price of April 2025. Ghana raises cocoa farmgate price by nearly 45% (ESM Magazine) https://www.esmmagazine.com/index.php... - the September 2024 rise from 33,120 to 48,000 cedis a tonne and the aim of deterring smuggling. Analyst comparison to a world price of about $8,450 a tonne is undated; the "around" is deliberate. Major Ghana cocoa region 81% infected with bean disease (The Cocoa Post, citing Reuters) https://thecocoapost.com/major-ghana-... - Ghana's 500,000 infected hectares (25.7% of 1.94 million hectares of cocoa land) and the outside estimates for Ivory Coast. OWN ARITHMETIC $3.09 a kilogram is $3,090 a ton, a little over a third of $8,450; $7,380 is about 38% below $11,984; $3.45 minus $2.43 is about a dollar. #chocolate #cocoa #economics #explained #money