The price of Christmas treats could be hard to swallow this year because the cost of chocolate is soaring.
Poor cocoa bean harvests in Africa sent prices through the roof hitting those who make Christmas goodies.
Katie Cross, who runs the online bakery, Cake or Death, has been hit by the hike.
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She said she was now paying thousands more per tonne of chocolate than she did a year ago.
“The price of chocolate has gone through the roof. And it’s really hard to manage,” she said.
“It will cost me £15,000 a tonne this year compared to £5,500 in May 2023.
“I buy around six tonnes a year.
“Which means we are charging more for our Christmas brownies and hampers than last year.
“Our customers have responded well but some have stopped buying due to the higher prices.”
Katie, based in Exeter, Devon, has started producing non-chocolate products like flapjacks to save on costs.
“We have introduced a Brookie to our most popular mixed box which is half cookie, which saves on chocolate,” she told What’s The Jam.
“I really don’t want to put prices up again.
“We are selling a luxury product and the prices are fair as they are and I think that customers are really under pressure at the moment with bills so I am just looking at cost savings I can make elsewhere in the business.”
Cocoa prices have been driven up by poor harvests in West Africa which produces most of the supply.
According to The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit El Niño has caused drier weather in Ghana and Ivory Coast which are the world’s two biggest producers of cocoa beans.
Up to 85% of all the UK’s cocoa beans came from Ivory Coast alone.
Ben Clarke, Research Assistant on Analysis and Interpretation of Climate Data for Extreme Weather, at the Grantham Institute, Imperial College said: “El Nino years often lead to challenges for farmers through changing patterns of weather.
“Increasingly climate change is multiplying this natural challenge in many regions.
“It fuels more extreme conditions, devastates harvests and makes food costs higher for all.”
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