The prices of more and more chocolate products are increasing. Hershey, the company behind Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, among others, announced on Tuesday evening that it is raising its prices. The news came shortly after the Swiss manufacturer Lindt announced that it had also increased its prices in the first half of the year.
The two are joining, among others, Tony’s Chocolonely, who announced earlier this year that it would make its products more expensive.
The increases are necessary, according to the manufacturers, because they are dealing with higher purchase costs, especially for cocoa, the prices of which have been rising on the world market for about two years. This is the result of disappointing harvests in Ivory Coast and Ghana, two countries that produce a lot of cocoa.
For example, the price of a ton of cocoa fluctuated around 2,300 dollars (1,960 euros) in 2022, but traders now pay more than 8,000 dollars.
At Hershey, prices will increase by about 10 percent. In addition, the American company is adjusting the weight of its products and the number of sweets per package is decreasing. The latter is also called shrinkflation. The company also announced a price increase a year ago. Lindt has made its products 16 percent more expensive in the first six months of this year.