Today is National Milk Chocolate Day, the day where we celebrate the invention of milk chocolate by Daniel Peter, an employee of Nestle and a neighbor of Henry Nestle, in 1887. But your next bite of chocolate might also take a bite out of your wallet.
As Food & Wine reports, the Hershey Company just announced that it will raise prices on its retail products in the U.S. this fall, but this time, it’s not because of tariffs, at least not yet. Instead, the company states that it’s due to the volatile global price of cocoa, which has been steadily climbing for months. “This change is not related to tariffs or trade policies. It reflects the reality of rising ingredient costs, including the unprecedented cost of cocoa,” the company shared in a statement.
It added that the price hikes will be in the “low” double-digit percentages. According to the Associated Press, some of its product packaging will be reduced in size, while others will see outright price increases.
As Food & Wine reported in late 2024, cocoa prices had reached an all-time high largely due to reduced yields caused by climate change. In 2023, the Fairtrade Foundation’s Endangered Aisle report stated that cocoa-growing regions like Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana might become too hot to cultivate the crop by 2050.
Although Hershey Company shared that, currently, the prices are not due to Trump Administration tariff policies, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t concerned about the threat. Food Dive reported in May that the brand asked the White House for an exemption from tariffs and told investors that it expected its tariff bill to be between $15 million and $20 million during the second quarter of 2025. Although it noted that once it depletes its chocolate stockpile already in the United States, the tariff bill could reach $100 million in the second half of the year.
“Cocoa cannot be grown in the United States, and thus, we are engaging with the U.S. government to seek an exemption,” the company’s CEO, Michele Buck, shared in a statement at the time. “Our legacy is one of American industrialism and ingenuity, and we continually invest in domestic manufacturing.”
There is at least one glimmer of good news. The Hershey Company announced that these upcoming price hikes won’t affect the cost of its specially packaged candies for Halloween, giving at least some sense of relief before the rest of the holiday season kicks in.
It’s also not the only chocolate company having to make price adjustments. The AP noted that this week, Lindt Chocolatiers also raised prices by 15.8% in the first half of this year to offset the rising cost of cocoa.
Adalbert Lechner, the company’s CEO, said during a call with investors that “The development of the global chocolate market in the first half of 2025 was a continuation of what we saw in 2024, with cocoa prices remaining close to record highs.” As of July 24, cocoa futures in the U.S. hit $8,135 per ton, up from $2,474 in July 2020.
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