Easter is just around the corner. Store shelves are decorated with gold foiled rabbits with ribbons, colourful Easter baskets and bunny ears.
The bright and springy vibe of Easter gives it a wholesome allure. However, cocoa prices and the cost of confectionaries are spoiling some of the fun this year.
Canadian Easter spending
Consumer research conducted by the Retail Council of Canada shows how Canadians plan to spend on Easter this year.
Here are the RCF’s findings:
- 50% of Canadians plan to spend on Easter activities, with 85.7% spending the same or more amount as compared to 2024.
- 47.9% will spend between $0-$50, whereas 28.3% will allocate $51-$100.
- Shoppers are delaying their purchases, with 35.0% purchasing 2-4 weeks in advance (down from 37.5% in 2024) and 14.0% shopping a week before Easter.
- 46% of shoppers will make a dedicated shopping trip for Easter purchases, a marginal decrease from 48% in 2024.
Global cocoa crisis
Since October 2022, cocoa prices have jumped approximately $2,000 USD per metric ton to over $12,475 USD by last December—an increase of about 280% in just three years.
Sylvain Charlebois is the senior director of agri-food analytics at Dalhousie University and co-host of the Food Professor Podcast.
He explained the price of chocolate has been climbing to record highs in the last few months due to inflation, shrinkflation and strain on global supply.
On April 7, cocoa prices dipped to around $8,300 and a further decrease is anticipated. Despite this, cocoa is still considerably more expensive than before 2024.
Less for more
From global food giants like Nestle and Mars to artisanal chocolatiers, companies are facing cocoa costs four to five times higher than in 2022.
Subsequently, chocolatiers, bakeries and confectionaries will charge more and shrinkflate their products by selling less for more, as we saw last year as well.
Compared to dark chocolate, milk chocolate contains less cocoa than dark varieties and may not be as costly this Easter. The more cocoa in the product, the more expensive it is to make.
Why is chocolate so expensive?
Climate conditions and structural changes to the industry are key culprits behind the jumping costs. 60% of the world’s global cocoa output comes from Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana together.
Tragically, both countries are battling droughts, floods, the spread of the swollen shoot virus, aging plantations, and chronically low farmgate prices—the prices producers receive for their goods at the point of sale on their farm, before any transportation or handling costs are added.
This is straining the long-term viability of cocoa production in these countries, which exerts pressure on the global supply.
Exploitation in the Cocoa Industry
All of this highlights greater problems around ethics and the exploitation of cocoa farmers.
Unfortunately as a result, approximately 2.1 million children in the Ivory Coast and Ghana work on cocoa farms, being exposed to extreme forms of child labour (Food Empowerment Project, 2022).
On paper, child labour is illegal in Ghana and the Ivory Coast yet it is fuelling the cocoa production industry.
Most of the children labouring on cocoa farms are between the ages of 12 and 16, but reporters have found children as young as 5.
In addition, 40% of these children are girls, and some end up working on cocoa farms through adulthood (Food Empowerment Project, 2022).
The current framework of the cocoa industry keeps farmers and their crops at a disadvantage. Therefore, this creates an environment ripe for exploitative labour. It is clearly not sustainable based on the current cocoa crisis.
For more information about how you can ethically support the cocoa industry, click here.
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