Shoppers may face a choccy horror show this Halloween after the price of chocolate shot up 11% in the past year – far outstripping increases for other foods across UK supermarkets.
Britons opening their doors to trick-or-treaters could decide to cut back on spending for 31 October, as the cost of chocolate rose sharply in the year to the end of August, way above wider grocery inflation of 2.7% over the same period, according to research by the consumer group Which?
The price has risen after cocoa prices more than doubled on world markets in the face of tree disease and adverse weather in growing countries aggravated by the climate crisis. Weather issues, including a wetter-than-usual rainy season, led to a cocoa shortage in west Africa, in particular Ghana and Ivory Coast, where more than half of the world’s cocoa beans are harvested.
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