Easter choccy horror!
Huge hikes in cocoa prices means sweet treats are costlier than ever
STOCK up on Easter eggs this weekend as chocolate prices are on the rise, with some Irish supermarket shelves now empty of cocoa powder.
In the run-up to the Bank Holiday weekend, eagle-eyed shoppers across the country may have noticed that their favourite chocolate brands have either increased in price or have gotten smaller.
The price of raw cocoa has more than trebled in the last 12 months – and more than doubled in the last three months alone.
But this isn’t just due to inflation, as scientists say climate change is a key reason your Easter eggs are costing more.
According to researchers from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), a combination of wet heatwaves and drought have battered this year’s cocoa harvest in Ghana and the Ivory Coast.
Combined with a strong El Niño year, this has pushed up the price of some Easter eggs by more than 50% according to data from food and drink inflation tracker Which?
Patricia Farrell, owner of Wilde Irish Chocolates in Tuamgraney, Co. Clare, said that everyone in the industry is concerned.
‘We’re very much at the mercy of the global commodities and whether I like it or not we’ll have to deal with rising costs down the line,’ she told the Irish Daily Mail. ‘The cocoa bean shortage along with climate change is something we’re very concerned about, but we just do our best by trying to provide good value for money.
‘People have a lot of sensitivity to the prices of certain things, but people are going to buy Easter Eggs every year no matter what. I’d recommend buying one or two good quality Easter eggs instead of ten standard ones.’
Not only are prices rising, but consumers are also getting less for their cash.
Brands such as Cadbury, Galaxy, Mars, Twix, KitKat, Smarties, Yorkie, and Terrys have all shrunk the size of their popular Easter eggs.
The large Mars milk chocolate egg is down from 252g to 201g, the Twix milk chocolate egg is down from 246g to 200g while the Galaxy Minstrels egg has been cut from 234g to 192g.
Consumers getting less for their cash