Chocolate prices to rise again as African cocoa processing slows down

According to a report by news agency Reuters, chocolate-makers around the world have already increased prices to consumers after three years of poor cocoa harvests, with a fourth now expected. 

The agency bases its report on information received from four separate trading sources. 

The African-based processing plants are essential to chocolate manufacturing, as raw cocoa beans must first be turned into butter and liquor that can be used in chocolate-making facilities around the world. 

Reuters says state-controlled bean processor Transcao, one of Côte d’Ivoire’s nine major plants, has stopped buying beans because of their price. It is still processing from stock, but anonymous sources quoted in the report claim that the plant is almost idle. 

It is a similar situation in Ghana, where the state-owned Cocoa Processing Company (CPC), is said to be operating at about 20% of capacity because of the shortage of beans. 

Supply problem has been ongoing 

The problem is not new. In October 2023, this website reported: “Cocoa prices have already gone up by nearly 50% in the past year, due mainly to smaller harvests in both countries because of adverse weather conditions and crop diseases.  

“Growers in Ghana and Ivory Coast are also having to pay more for imported fertilisers and pesticides – further driving up the price.” 

In January 2024, the industry publication, Cocoa Post, said Ghana “has been experiencing a consistent reduction in annual crop output in the last couple of years, attributed to unfavourable weather, disease, and illegal gold mining, among others”. 

Cocoa Post added that a production shortfall last year contributed to Ghana defaulting on supply contracts for up to 44,000 metric tonnes, for the first time in the country’s history.