\n But that drop hasn\u2019t trickled down to what consumers are paying. Candy prices are up 11.6%<\/a> in the last year, according to February\u2019s Consumer Price Index.\n <\/p>\n \n The reason: The Easter chocolate on shelves today was produced using cocoa purchased at its extreme high, according to David Branch, sector manager at the Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201c2024 was the culmination of three successive years of unfavorable weather events in West Africa,\u201d Branch told CNN.\n <\/p>\n \n West African countries are the largest suppliers of cocoa in the world. Ghana and Ivory Coast alone produce<\/a> 60% of the world\u2019s cocoa. Extreme weather conditions like higher temperatures and torrential rains caused poor crop yields three years in a row.\n <\/p>\n \n Consecutive years of drops in production led to one of the largest-ever supply deficits of cocoa beans compared to demand. Markets reacted with \u201cskyrocketing prices,\u201d Branch said.\n <\/p>\n \n Last year, chocolate giants Hershey, Nestle, and Lindt announced price hikes<\/a> because of cocoa shortages. Lindt raised prices by 19%.\n <\/p>\n \n That\u2019s bad news for chocolate-driven holidays. Prices for Valentine\u2019s Day chocolate<\/a> were elevated in February, and at the time, Branch said the price hikes might cool by Easter.\n <\/p>\n \n Americans will spend about $3.3 billion on Easter candy this year, according to the National Retail Federation. The National Confectioners Association says about 90% of all Easter baskets include chocolate.\n <\/p>\n \n Fortunately for chocolate lovers, 2026 has seen much more favorable conditions for cocoa growth compared to last year.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWhat we\u2019ve seen this crop year is excellent weather, improved cultural practices, more cocoa plantations coming online in South America and Asia,\u201d Branch said.\n <\/p>\n \n All of these factors have increased global cocoa supply, driving bean prices down\u2014though it still might be some time until price drops hit the finished products in stores. Branch doesn\u2019t expect relief for customers until Halloween. Even then, it might be moderate.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI don\u2019t think you\u2019re going to come back down to where we were three years ago, but hopefully we\u2019ll get some relief,\u201d Branch said.\n <\/p>\n \n Cocoa beans have been the biggest driver for price increases, but rising costs in other sectors like packaging and energy have also played a role in chocolate\u2019s heftier price tag.\n <\/p>\n \n Known as Manhattan\u2019s oldest chocolatier, Li-Lac Chocolates has held off price increases \u2014 but it may not be able to for much longer.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cEither (cocoa) prices or packaging costs we could have absorbed, but both of them at the same time was brutal,\u201d Chris Taylor, owner of Li-Lac Chocolates, told CNN. \u201cIf it continues like this, I don\u2019t see how we could avoid price increases.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Tariffs drove up food packaging costs<\/a> in 2025. Taylor thought the Supreme Court striking down many tariffs<\/a> would spare<\/a> the chocolate house from raising prices, but packaging costs remain too high for that.\n <\/p>\n \n And the war in Iran could drive up transportation costs as a result of surging oil prices. Consumers may turn to more inexpensive store brand chocolate rather than the big names, Branch said. Chocolate alternatives like Peeps and jellybeans could also be more popular than in previous years.\n <\/p>\n \n But Branch is still confident in the public\u2019s chocolate-centered sweet tooth.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cConsumers have not lost their appetite for chocolate,\u201d Branch said. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the little affordable luxuries that they give themselves. Even with the higher prices, lots of consumers can\u2019t go without it.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This year\u2019s Easter baskets will come with a higher price tag and a little less chocolate, despite lower…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364799,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[138,219,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-364798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Lindt](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/gettyimages-2268229484.jpg\")
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