Chocolate makers hit a price ceiling as shoppers trade down

The largest chocolate makers have raised prices by a quarter to a half since 2024, and shoppers have started switching to cheaper store brands. Analysts at Swiss bank Vontobel believe the low point in sales volumes is behind us, but the recovery in demand is only beginning.

The global chocolate market is run by four groups: America’s Mars and Mondelēz, Italy’s Ferrero and Switzerland’s Nestlé. According to the research firm Euromonitor, together they controlled almost 44 percent of the world market last year.

Lindt, ranked sixth, cut its revenue forecast in late September, for the second time this year. Instead of growth of 4–6 percent, the company now expects 2 percent at most. Lindt chief Adalbert Lechner explained that expensive cocoa forced the maker to raise prices, and shoppers began buying less, especially seasonal chocolate. The company therefore plans to lower prices on its Christmas range. Record heat in Europe, he said, dealt another blow to sales.

Competitor Mars, which makes Snickers bars and M&M’s candies, has not announced broad price cuts and is trying to respond to falling demand by expanding its range.

Cocoa prices on the markets swing sharply. In late August cocoa rose to $6,500 a ton, or roughly 142,000 crowns, more than double its February low. According to the International Cocoa Organization, prices fell by more than a tenth over the next two weeks, and the sharp swings continued into October.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz