After hitting record levels, food companies are looking for alternatives to cocoa in chocolate

Cocoa prices have increased more than three-fold over the past year, creating a major headache for candy makers and other food companies that use cocoa to make chocolate, and making them look for alternatives to it.

The price of cocoa has been hovering around $2,500 per metric ton in recent years. But reports of a weaker-than-expected crop have raised concerns about supply, sending prices for the commodity higher in recent months. Cocoa reached an all-time high of more than $11,000 per metric ton in April. Since then, price increases have subsided slightly, but the price of the crop is still far above what food companies used to pay, according to CNBC.

Many of the biggest candy companies – Hershey, M&M’s maker Mars, Kinder owner Ferrero, and Cadbury’s parent Mondelez – are likely protected from rising cocoa costs, thanks to long-term contracts that lock in the prices they pay for the commodity. To protect it from events like this. This gives them some time to deal with the price issue. But by 2025, they will likely end up paying more for cocoa.

“There are examples where companies are increasing the amount of non-cocoa additives, like sugar, and more economical things like cocoa butter equivalents, shea butter,” said Steve Rosenstock, president of consumer products at Clarkston Consulting, which advises clients on how to deal with problems like palm oil, coconut oil, and those kinds of things.”