The Hershey Company will soon increase prices across its candy lineup, citing soaring ingredient costs, particularly cocoa.
The Pennsylvania-based chocolate giant, known for its Reese’s, Almond Joy, and Kit Kat products, said the decision reflects an unprecedented surge in cocoa prices rather than tariffs or trade policies. Cocoa futures remain more than double what they were two years ago, driven by poor weather and disease in West Africa, which produces most of the world’s cocoa supply.
According to Hershey, the price changes will take effect this fall, averaging in the low double-digit percentages. In some cases, packaging sizes may shrink instead of prices climbing outright.
Cocoa costs have swung wildly in recent months. Futures recently traded at \$7,380 per metric ton — far below December’s peak of \$11,984 but still 121% higher than two years ago. Supply forecasts remain unstable, with heavy rains and crop disease threatening production in Ivory Coast and Ghana, while optimism in Latin America offers some relief.
Hershey said it has worked to absorb these increases and keep most products under $4, but can no longer offset raw material spikes without passing some costs on to consumers.
Source: WHTM