Australians are set to splurge billions of dollars on Easter celebrations as the cost of chocolate and festive treats continues to soar.
The spike in prices comes as part of a range of changes in the past 12 months, including global product shortages and continued inflation.
Data from agribusiness banking specialist Rabobank said Australia’s retail chocolate prices are up 8.8 per cent on the previous year, amid a third season of a global cocoa deficit.
Issues resulting in the shortage include a reduction in cocoa beans production in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, where 60 per cent of the world’s supply is grown.
“There is no single root catalyst for this deficit,” Rabobank analyst Pia Piggott said.
“It is a combination of a range of agricultural and other factors, including adverse weather conditions, ageing trees and disease in crops.
“There are also other challenges for growers, including increasing sustainability regulations and requirements – including in import markets – which are also limiting supply growth.
“These include European Union deforestation regulations, which limit area expansion and increase traceability requirements.”
Key cocoa-producing countries have also been hit by damaging El Nino-driven weather conditions over the past two years.
Global cocoa prices are nearly three times higher than Easter 2022, according to analysis from trading and investing platform eToro.
Its research shows the price of snacks and confectionary items is also up by almost seven per cent in Australia over the past year.
For example, last year a Cadbury dairy milk chocolate block cost around $5.50. Today the same block costs $6.
Market Analyst at eToro Josh Gilbert said the woes have been worsened by escalating transportation, labour, and packaging costs, which are expected to be shouldered by consumers.
“The cocoa market has been on a tear in recent times, with a notable increase of over 10 per cent within a single week earlier this year,” he said.
“As it stands, the elevated chocolate prices are poised to become the norm.
“This is due to the need for producers and retailers to replenish their stocks at these higher rates.”
A survey by comparison site Finder found the average Australian plans to spend $1185 on chocolate, food, eating out, and travel during Easter for a national total of about $4.4 billion over the festive holiday.
This breaks down to $57 on chocolate alone for the 54 per cent of people who said they were planning to buy Easter eggs this year.
Forty per cent of the 1061 people surveyed said they didn’t plan on spending any money on Easter celebrations.
Angus Kidman, money expert at Finder, said shoppers are looking for more bang for their buck this Easter.
“Easter is exacerbating cost-of-living pressures, prompting some to rethink how they mark the occasion,” he said.
Australia’s inflation has been moderating from its peak in late 2022 but even with an aggressive round of interest rate hikes aimed at softening economic activity, it is still above the Reserve Bank of Australia’s two to three per cent target range.
The latest monthly reading for the consumer price index was 3.4 per cent which was weaker than expected.
But based on the central bank’s forecasts, inflation won’t be back within target until the end of 2025, which means that Easter could be another season of high chocolate prices.
