Business Daily Follow the money: Why does chocolate cost so much?
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Oct 5, 2026 Cocoa prices quadruple after weather devastates West African harvests, but supermarket chocolate stays expensive even after markets cool. Farmers, processors and chocolate makers reveal how disease, fixed pricing systems, freight costs and delayed contracts shape the supply chain. With another El Niño threatening harvests, the future of chocolate looks increasingly uncertain.
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How El Niño Quadrupled Cocoa Prices
- El Niño-driven disease destroyed West African cocoa harvests, shrinking global supply and sending prices from about $3,000 to $12,000 per tonne.
- West Africa produces more than 60% of the world’s cocoa, so regional weather shocks immediately affect chocolate worldwide.
Ghanaian Farmers Miss Cocoa Price Surges
- Ghanaian farmer Moses Janaseidu lost over half his 15-acre farm to disease and now produces about two tonnes annually from five acres.
- He says volatile international prices, expensive labor, and government pricing leave farmers worse off despite global price spikes.
Why Expensive Chocolate Still Leaves Farmers Poor
- Cocoa’s high retail price does not necessarily improve farmer livelihoods because government pricing and supply-chain structures can disconnect farmers from global prices.
- More than a third of Ghanaian cocoa farmers earn under 55 cents daily, below a living-income benchmark for a family of five.