Australians are set to feel the pinch of Easter bunny visits as the cost of chocolate rises.
The price of its key ingredient — cocoa — has soared 500 per cent in less than two years.Cocoa beans shot past US$9,900 ($15,400) a tonne on the New York Futures Exchange this week, making them more expensive than materials such as copper.
Australian chocolate lovers have felt the impact, as prices across supermarkets climbed 8.8 per cent in the past 12 months, according to new data from RaboBank.
So what’s pushing up the price of your chocolate eggs? And are we headed for a chocolate shortage?
Why have cocoa prices jumped?
Chocolate production in West Africa, which accounts for nearly 60 per cent of the world’s supply, has been affected by extreme weather and disease.
RaboBank analyst Pia Piggot said there are several factors limiting cocoa supply.
“There’s been adverse weather, ageing trees and diseases in the cocoa trees, as well as the European Union deforestation regulation,”
SBS News.
