Chocolate prices may rise again soon

Prices of Kalev chocolate have fallen by up to 20 percent in recent months as cocoa costs have dropped, but the situation on the global markets may push them back up.
Cocoa is also traded on the world market alongside oil and gas. Its price is heavily influenced by yields. Over the past few years, there have been moments when the price of cocoa rose above $12,000 per ton, but it has now fallen back to $3,500.
In Estonia, Kalev chocolates are sold by Orkla Eesti. The company's sales director, Andrei Holm, said that in February the company lowered the prices of both Kalev chocolates and candies by an average of 10 to 20 percent.
Holm said last year, when prices were higher, there was a drop in sales by 10-20 percent. Now that chocolate and candy are cheaper, they have bounced back up.
Orkla buys cocoa from Africa, both from the Ivory Coast and Ghana. Holm explained that large manufacturers usually sign contracts with cocoa producers for around six months, setting both fixed prices and quantities. In this way, chocolate manufacturers do not have to depend too heavily on fluctuations in exchange prices.
Now, however, the price of cocoa is lower because weather conditions and yields in Africa are more stable.
Holm acknowledged that although stable yields could keep the price of cocoa low, this could begin to be affected by oil and fertilizer prices, which have risen.
"Exactly how this will affect cocoa prices is not yet known. One could guess where it might go, but no one knows by how much or whether it will go up at all," he said.
Recently, attention has been drawn to the fact that, for example, the cocoa content of Anneke chocolate has decreased. Holm confirmed that this was not due to the price of cocoa. He acknowledged that technological adjustments were needed to make the chocolate even better.
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Editor: Helen Wright, Aleksander Krjukov









