Cocoa Cost Increase Leads To Chocolate Price Hike
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – They say money can't buy happiness but one thing it can buy is chocolate. Now many chocoholics, though, will have to pay a little more for the sweet treat.
Daniel Sklaar, owner of Fine and Raw Chocolate in Brooklyn, New York, is finding it harder each day to spin his passion into profit.
Sklaar's is in the business of making artisanal treats using cocoa beans from all over the world. But with the price of cocoa up 45-percent since 2013, the small business owner says he has to raise prices.
"We're looking at a roughly 8 to 10-percent increase," said Sklaar.
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Chocolate giant the Hersey Company recently announced it's raising the price of its products by 8-percent. And Mars, the maker of M&M's and Snickers is pushing prices about 7-percent.
This is the first time in about three years that both companies have raised prices.
"It's likely that you will see prices rise across the board from all the major chocolatiers," said Joe Deaux, Economics Analyst of TheStreet.
The price of cocoa has gone up because there is less of it. Also, bad weather and political tensions in cocoa-producing countries have led to lower yields for farmers.
Another factor contributing to the rising cost of cocoa is demand—the appetite for chocolate is growing worldwide.
Many chocolate lovers, though, say that spending a little more for the occasional chocolate-fix is well worth it, which Sklaar says that is the magic of chocolate.
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