Out of 237 gifts available in the traditional big four supermarket prices of over 70% have increased (Image: Getty)
An alert has been issued to anyone buying chocolate in February. have soared in price this year, with gift boxes of the treats up over 63% on the same time last year.
Out of 237 gifting lines available in the traditional big four supermarkets 181 (76.4%) rose in price, 46 (19.4%) were the same, with only 10 (4.2%) cheaper than they were last year, has revealed.
One of the highest price hikes is for boxes of Maltesers Truffles, with the 200g size up 63% in Asda, from £4 to £6.50.
Toblerone 750g bars are up 63% in price in , from £8 to £13.
Baileys Chocolate Truffles Salted Caramel 205g are up 36%, from £5 to £6.80 in Sainsbury’s and a Terry’s Chocolate Orange 157g is up 34%, from £1.49 to £2 in Tesco.
The price hike is the result of short crop of cocoa from west Africa, and its not just Valentine”s Day treats that are affected.
The Grocer found that Morrisons Savers chocolate 100g was up 63.3% in just one month, from 49p to 80p while Asda’s 100g Just Essentials are up 12.2%, from 49p to 55p. Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s Stamford Street Co 100g bars were up 10%, from £1 to £1.10.
Maltesers told the Grocer the increases were “not a decision we have taken lightly”.
Toblerone acknowledge that the cost of cocoa mean it was “having to make some carefully considered list price increases”.
Baileys and Terry’s declined to comment while Asda and Morrisons had not responded to requests at the time of publication.
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Last year University College London warned that the El Niño weather phenomenon, which has caused drier weather in west Africa. had contributed to problems on farms, such as the swollen shoot virus disease.
This meant Ghana lost harvests from nearly 500,000 hectares of land
Reuters has also reported that major African cocoa plants in Ivory Coast and Ghana – two of the main cocoa-producing countries have stopped or cut processing because they cannot afford to buy beans,meaning chocolate prices around the world are likely to soar.
Last year chocolate-maker started hiking prices to consumers, after three years of poor cocoa harvests, with a fourth expected, in the two countries that produce nearly 60% of the world’s cocoa.