Lindt joins other firms sinking chocolate prices as cocoa cheapens

Swiss chocolate giant Lindt & Sprüngli is joining other manufacturers in dropping prices of individual products amid lower world cocoa prices, the company said on Friday.

The recommended retail price for 100-gram bars of the company's Classics product line has been reduced from €2.69 ($3.17) to €2.19.

Further price adjustments are being reviewed, a spokeswoman said.

However, the company said the low cocoa prices did not have an immediate impact due to its long-term purchasing strategy.

German confectionery maker Bahlsen has also lowered prices for some products, including chocolate biscuits. While the company plans to pass on the lower cocoa prices to consumers, shelf prices remain set by the retailers, a spokeswoman told dpa.

When asked whether Milka's chocolate would become cheaper, manufacturer Mondelez declined to comment.

At the end of January, food retailers in Germany lowered the prices of numerous own-brand products for the first time in a long while, and again this week.

Depending on the variety, the price of a 100-gram bar of chocolate now ranges from 79 cents to €1.19 due to a better cocoa harvest. As a result, raw cocoa prices on the stock exchanges have recently fallen sharply.

Chocolate prices shot up in recent years amid fears of crop failures in West Africa from plant diseases and extreme weather.

Manufacturers and retailers have passed on the increased raw material costs to customers. According to Germany's Federal Statistical Office, a bar of chocolate in March was on average 71% more expensive than in 2020.

Consequently, consumers are eating less chocolate. According to a YouGov survey conducted in February, one in two people in Germany (52%) buys significantly or somewhat less than two years ago, 39% buy about the same amount and 5% buy more.