Prices for chocolate and chocolate products will almost double in Ukraine

There is a negative trend of cocoa bean shortage in the world and, accordingly, the price of chocolate is rising. This will affect Ukraine as well. In our country it is predicted to increase prices for the product and products made of it. About it writes "Focus".

As Focus writes, in the last week of March, the most active futures for cocoa jumped by 4.5% to 100 80 dollars per tonne in New York. Although they then fell to $9622, according to Bloomberg data, cocoa futures in London and New York have more than doubled this year.

It is noted that the jump in prices was triggered by crop failure and financial problems of cocoa plantations in Ghana, which is one of the leaders in growing the fruit.

The president of the Ukrkondprom Association, Oleksandr Baldynyuk, believes that the price hike is hardly temporary, because it is a big systemic problem.

Cocoa bean cultivation localised in three African countries (Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana and Nigeria). It has been declining for many years: trees have been aging, areas have not been increased, yields have been declining. Recently, weather conditions unfavourable for growing and harvesting have added to this, and the world is facing a shortage of cocoa beans. Prices have started to rise. And if they rose by 50 per cent last year, they almost doubled in the first three months of 2024. For comparison: in September 2022 cocoa beans could be bought for 2.5 thousand dollars per tonne, in December last year - for 4 thousand dollars per tonne, and now the cost has exceeded 9 thousand dollars, - explained the expert.

In his opinion, it will not be possible to correct the situation quickly.

He also said that before the war Ukraine imported about 15 thousand tonnes of cocoa beans and 50-60 thousand tonnes of cocoa products per year. Today, the annual import of cocoa beans has fallen to 2-3 thousand tonnes and cocoa products to 35-40 thousand tonnes per year. To meet the demand, companies are forced to buy the product at a higher cost.

In turn, the representative of the supplier of the company, which is one of the leaders of cocoa bean processing, Andriy Kononenko said that the raw material in the Ukrainian market has already increased in price four times, and many manufacturers are on the verge of closure.

Now customers, including our Ukrainian factories, are ready to pay abnormally high prices in order to continue to work, to maintain production, to be present in shops," Kononenko said.

Note, in July 2023 chocolate manufacturers have already raised prices because of the rise in the price of cocoa beans.

Back then, cocoa prices jumped by a quarter amid widespread flooding in the main growing regions," the publication recalls.