This year’s Easter baskets will come with a higher price tag and a little less chocolate, despite lower cocoa prices.
Cocoa — the key ingredient in chocolate — has been steadily falling in price from its all-time high in 2024, when cocoa beans were trading for over $12,000 a ton. Today, they’re about $3,300 a ton.
But that drop hasn’t trickled down to what consumers are paying. Candy prices are up 11.6% in the last year, according to February’s Consumer Price Index.
The reason: The Easter chocolate on shelves today was produced using cocoa purchased at its extreme high, according to David Branch,