Excludes RMC. Chocolate is not immune to inflation this year: +5% in a year, according to a UFC-Que Choisir survey revealed exclusively on RMC this Wednesday. This is higher than food inflation, which stood at 3% in the same period.
Unsurprisingly, chocolate will cost more for the French this year, with prices rising, and even more on star Easter products, according to a study by UFC-Que Choisir, revealed exclusively by RMC this Wednesday morning.
“Of the 80 chocolates surveyed, there is an increase of 5% between Easter 2023 and 2024”, which is higher than food inflation of 3% during the same period, the study notes. Thus, a box of six Kinder Surprise Special Easter drops from 6 euros to 6.70 euros. 16 Ferrero Rocher’s bell rises 50 cm. UFC-Que Choisir clarifies, “The same increase for a bag of milka chocolate eggs.” How about Lindt’s famous milk chocolate bunnies? “Its average price is 3.87 euros this year, compared to 3.63 euros last year.”
Cocoa prices are skyrocketing
Two main reasons for this inflation: firstly the price of cocoa which is rising so much and which has never been so expensive. Indeed, just days before Easter, cocoa prices in New York hit new historic highs above $10,000 a tonne on March 26, after a slight decline, driven by supply shortages due to a poor harvest.
The weather conditions were very bad and due to this the global production decreased. But Easter chocolates often contain less cocoa. So we also explain this price increase by sugar which is increasingly expensive, especially due to energy prices.
“A strong effect” on Christmas, already warns Dominique Schelcher
“It’s amazing: since January 2023, the price of a ton of cocoa has tripled, analyzed System U CEO Dominique Schelcher on RMC-BFMTV. It’s absolutely incredible, never seen before. It’s higher than the world benchmark copper. of raw materials. There has been a poor harvest in Ghana and Ivory Coast, which are the most productive in the world. This is the result of climate change. The crops are very bad. There were diseases because there was a lot of moisture. There was a very negative order. As a result, Gaya Chocolate had already grown by 10% in the year.”
And U Stores bosses expect even more growth in the chocolate product aisle later in the year. “We expected demand for Easter chocolate so the impact there is limited, he assures. It’s less than a 10% increase. The impact is really expected on the shelves in the coming weeks. On Christmas chocolate, for sure, we can expect. A strong impact. . and perhaps at Easter 2025, if the situation does not change.”
“We buy less, but better things”
While leaving the supermarket, Mary, a retiree, has chocolates in her bag for her grandchildren. This year, he’s spending more, he admits.
“We do not allow ourselves to be fooled, we are not pigeons. So, we are careful, we buy less, but we buy good things.
But not everyone is willing to make the sacrifice. For Alexandra, chocolate is sacred. So she doesn’t look at the price.
“I have blinders on. The chocolate is so good, I don’t see the prices, I admit,” he says with a smile.
Next to her, her friend, Sandra, is more serious. But she doesn’t pay less for it. “I look at the price per kilo, sometimes we go from plain to triple. Also, we have kids, so there has to be at least one kinder in the group, otherwise, it’s a mess.”
And producers have understood this well, believes UFC-Que Choisir researcher Noé Bauduin. The latter worked on increasing the price of chocolate.
“We know that when kids want chocolate, parents will buy it, even if they know it’s not worth it. So chocolates intended for children are products where manufacturers push their prices.”
Eggs and bunnies will cost more this year, unless you wait until after Easter: a week after the holiday, prices drop by around 10%. So, the only solution is to pay less this year.
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