Roses are red, violets are blue, chocolate is rich -- and more expensive now too.
Crushing diseases that purged cocoa crops in West Africa, combined with a difficult growing season -- similar to the weather woes that spurred a spike in coffee prices -- have driven up cocoa prices, and thus chocolate prices, over the past few years, with experts predicting they could rise even further.
"You're seeing these prices going up across the board," ABC News chief business correspondent Rebecca Jarvis explained on "Good Morning America" about the higher cost of both coffee beans and cocoa. "The same issues happening in the environment, weather issues with cocoa supply -- it's not just inflation, you have these weather patterns."
In summer 2022, cocoa stood at less than $2,000 a ton and peaked well over $12,000 during the 2024 holiday season, chocolate expert Philippe de Selliers told The Associated Press. Now, that price is hovering around the $10,000 mark.
De Selliers, the head of both Leonidas and Belgian chocolate federation Choprabisco, called the price increase over the last two and a half years "absolutely spectacular."
The unprecedented prices on cocoa, the essential ingredient that gets ground up and used to make chocolate, are the highest they've been in the last 50 years, Bart Van Besien, policy adviser of the Oxfam Fair Trade group, told the AP.
The impact has hit many chocolate companies across Belgium, where nearly 280 brands are struggling ahead of the Hallmark holiday and leading into Easter shortly thereafter.
As the popular heart-shaped boxes "will cost more this year," especially those from higher-end or big-name confectionery brands, Jarvis suggested instead to "buy them at your grocery store -- or your local drug store."
This may also be a good time to try out some treats that aren't 100% cocoa.
Or, if you can wait for the Hallmark holiday to pass, Jarvis suggested celebrating Valentine's Day on Feb. 15, "when the candy is half off."
