Chocolate prices in the shops are likely to rise further, hitting cash-strapped consumers, after wholesale cocoa prices in London jumped last week above the key £2,000 a tonne level for the first time in almost 24 years.
Premium chocolate brands, which typically use more cocoa, are likely to be the worst affected as any further rise in prices is expected to exacerbate the shift by consumers to cheaper brands to save money. Confectionery companies such as Mars, Nestlé and Cadbury were tight-lipped about their pricing plans after the jump in wholesale cocoa prices. But Cadbury, which lifted its chocolate prices 5 per cent last year, has warned that if cocoa prices remain high, it will raise prices further again this year.
