Poor harvests have driven up prices for the important raw material. People in this country could notice this when shopping for Easter treats.
For chocolate bunnies and chocolate eggs, Germany’s consumers may have to dig deeper into their pockets for Easter this year.
An important ingredient for the production of sweets has recently become more expensive than it has been in a good 20 years: the import prices for cocoa beans and cocoa bean nibs in January 2024 exceeded the level of the same month of the previous year by 73.4 percent, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Tuesday . The import of cocoa mass and cocoa butter was 49.4 percent more expensive that month than a year before.
“The high price increases for cocoa imports are also likely to have an impact on producer prices for chocolate produced in this country,” concluded the Wiesbaden statisticians. In February 2024, producer prices for chocolate and other cocoa-containing food preparations rose above average by 8.8 percent compared to the same month last year.
The Federal Office cited the shortage of the raw material on the world market as a result of failed harvests, particularly in West Africa, as one reason for the significantly increased import prices for cocoa.
Source: Stern
