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Why Cocoa Prices Spiked and What It Means for Chocolate Lovers

WATCH: Why cocoa prices are breaking records.Source: Bloomberg
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After a steady rise over two years, the price of cocoa beans skyrocketed in early 2024, with futures contracts more than doubling in three months to reach a level in March twice as high as the previous record. It’s a progression that has its literal roots in small West African farms but also involves climate change and the intricacies of the futures market. The latest surge has been driven in part by the kind of financial turmoil that can happen when commodity prices rise so fast that they overwhelm strategies meant to protect against such volatility.

The upshot is almost certainly bound to be more expensive chocolate that may come in smaller servings. But even if prices recede from current levels, they’re likely to remain elevated for years to come. Economists like to say that the cure for high prices is high prices, since they can reduce demand, spur increases in supply, or both. But the situation with cocoa shows how messy that idea can be in practice, given market complexities and obdurate physical facts like how long it takes for a new cocoa tree to grow.