Why the price of chocolate’s key ingredient skyrocketed in 2024

Why the price of chocolate’s key ingredient skyrocketed in 2024


Chocolate’s key ingredient has soared in commodities markets throughout 2024. Spot prices for cocoa began the year around $4,200 an ounce, then hit an all-time high of more than $12,000 an ounce in late April before settling above $9,000.

Factors such as crop disease, El Niño, farm-gate prices and market speculation all played big roles in cocoa’s historic price run-up.

“The supply side factors are still very much a major problem, and I think they will continue to be for the next few years,” said Paul Joules, agricultural commodity analyst at Rabobank.

As the chocolate industry grapples with higher input costs, consumers are feeling the pinch, and chocolate providers are beginning to consider alternatives.

“If we’re looking from the angle of the consumer, certainly I would say the worst is still to come,” Joules said. “In terms of the price increases they’re going to face, even if we were to see a big reduction in the commodity futures pricing, because likely we would still see that increase at the shop floor in the next few months.”

Cargill is now considering cocoa-adjacent alternative ingredients to make its chocolate products. The food and beverage company partnered with Voyage Foods in April to produce the alternatives.

“It’s not like we have a huge amount of demand of everyone saying we just need as much cacao-free chocolate as possible for the next six months, because these are storied and loved brands,” said Voyage Foods co-founder Adam Maxwell. “Because of that, it’s much more than just, we’re going to switch out this one ingredient for now.”

Watch the video above to learn more about the causes of this prolonged price rise, and what’s next for the industry.



Source

Asia-Pacific markets rise after Wall Street benchmarks hit record highs
World

Asia-Pacific markets rise after Wall Street benchmarks hit record highs

Japan’s Nikkei 225 share average rises in early trade Japan’s  rose in early trade Tuesday, as markets reopened after the ruling party lost its majority in the upper house over the weekend. The 225-stock share average advanced 1.12% to hit 40,254.18 at 9.17 a.m. local time (8.17 p.m. ET Monday), while the broader Topix index added […]

Read More
Stock futures are little changed after S&P 500 posts another record close: Live updates
World

Stock futures are little changed after S&P 500 posts another record close: Live updates

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) at the opening bell on July 18, 2025, in New York City. Angela Weiss | AFP | Getty Images Stock futures were little changed on Monday night after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hit fresh records. Futures tied to the Dow Jones […]

Read More
Figma IPO could value design software maker at  billion
World

Figma IPO could value design software maker at $16 billion

Dylan Field, co-founder and CEO of Figma Inc., after the morning sessions at the Allen & Co. Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 11, 2024. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images Design software company Figma on Monday published an updated prospectus for its initial public offering. The company said […]

Read More