The price of chocolate is skyrocketing: "As luck would have it, it's just before the end of the year holidays"

A Saint-Nicolas on the packaging? Pralines as a gift? Beware, some brands of chocolate like Milka (+ 40%) or Kinder (+ 20%) increase their price as the holidays approach the end of the year. For example, the famous chocolate eggs containing a surprise have gone from 0.78 € to 0.98 € each thanks to the effigy of Saint-Nicolas. Confectioneries follow the same curve. A pack of speculoos can thus increase by 50% and the advent calendar sells candies and chocolates up to 3 times more expensive than during the year.

The law of supply and demand as every year

The chocolatier Pierre Marcolini confirms that it is not a new maneuver: "Every year they call me at this time to tell me that there is an increase in the price of chocolate, and coincidentally it is just before the end of year holidays."

Pierre-Alexandre Billiet, head of the magazine Gondola, specialized in distribution, explains why this increase: "Prices do not flare up, there is an increase in the prices to the consumer, but it is logical that it is a question of supply and demand of the market.There is a strong demand for products that are now in the theme of the moment.Now be aware that these increases come to compensate for relatively low prices during the year since most products are subject to a price war that exists today in supermarkets on products of great consumption."

The price of chocolate increases more globally every year … but not because of the producers

For their part, praline more upscale increase their prices regularly. Leonidas raises its prices by an average of € 1 once a year, in July. This year, the increase was 0.80 €. In addition, this increase does not affect the subjects of Saint-Nicolas nor Christmas topics whose prices have remained unchanged.

"We can go to € 2 more per kilo every year and a half"explains Neuhaus.

The chocolatier Pierre Marcolini confirms the increase since the beginning of the year of the cocoa bean on the world markets, after a significant decrease in 2016 and 2017. But the price of cocoa is not skyrocketing. And this is not the decisive factor for the price of chocolate. There are intermediaries. "The cocoa beans today, if you look at a timeline over 10 years, the market was at 2500 to 2800 dollars a ton.It does not sell in the pocket of the planter.It receives 50% of that, considering the We now know that to be able to live on cocoa, you would have to pay at least $ 3500. So I want to tell you that the price is not high enough in some measure, or in any case it is not well distributed, paid to people who work in relation to this product. "

An important sector in Belgium

The Belgian consumes 6 kg of chocolate a year. The turnover of the chocolate industry in Belgium is 5 billion euros. In all, the chocolate, praline, biscuit and confectionery sector represents 10% of the turnover of the entire Belgian food industry. 332 Belgian companies work in chocolate and confectionery. This provides employment for nearly 12,000 people.