If you’re treating your sweetheart to something sweet this Valentine’s Day, you may have noticed that it’s a little more expensive this year.
Cocoa prices have skyrocketed over the past couple of years, leading to higher prices for chocolates, too, the Associated Press reported on Thursday. While the cost of cocoa sat at less than $2,000 a ton in the summer of 2022, it’s since jumped to about $10,000 right now. That’s at least below the $12,000 that cocoa hit during the holiday season.
“We are seeing unprecedented prices,” Bart Van Besien, a policy adviser at the Oxfam fair-trade group, told the AP. “They haven’t been this high for the last 50 years.”
The impact of the cost increase is especially pronounced in Belgium, a country associated with the pinnacle of chocolate making. There, some 280 chocolate companies are feeling the heat, with the Chocolate Line owner Dominique Persoone telling the AP that some shops have simply decided to close for Valentine’s Day, hoping that Easter may be a better time for chocolate sales. Persoone himself has had to raise the price of his chocolates by 20 percent over the past year.
The reasons for cocoa’s eye-popping cost are myriad: Climate change and disease have led crops to fail in several key regions, the AP noted. At the same time, when prices were low, farmers opted to leave the profession in search of better-paying jobs and more stable futures. And people propelling themselves into the middle class around the globe has created a larger market for chocolate in general.
Despite these changes, “it’s a small luxury that most people still can afford,” Persoone said. “I hope it stays like this.”
Both he and Philippe de Seller, the head of Leonidas and the Belgian chocolate federation Choprabisco, told the AP that they’re hoping cocoa prices drop soon and hover around $5,000 or $6,000. That may lead to cheaper prices for consumers in the future, but for now, if you’re stopping by a chocolate store, expect to see a higher price than in years past.
And if you’re still unsure about what to get your Valentine this year, we’ve got a list of the best premium chocolates on the market, including something for everyone. Of course, there’s always flowers, too.
