Bittersweet pleasure as chocolate prices soar

Sweet-toothed Caymanians have been left with a bitter taste in their mouths after rocketing cocoa prices and a world shortage have pushed the raw material price up by as much as three times over three years.

Cake makers, supermarkets and stores have all been forced to raise prices on chocolates and chocolate confections and to get more creative as the cocoa shortage deepened.

The average cocoa price on the world market was US$2.39 per kilogram in 2022, $3.28 per kg in 2023, $7.33 per kg in 2024 and, at present, about $8 per kg, according to global data platform Statista.

Lori-Ann Foley, owner of The Cake Studio, which makes cakes into works of art, said the cost of raw materials had shot up, but she had refused to compromise on quality, so she had been forced to put up prices.

Foley, who has run the cake shop for 13 years, said, “We don’t use chocolate from the store … it’s always been the expensive stuff because that’s an integral part of our product.”

She explained she used couverture chocolate – prized by chocolatiers and bakers for its high cocoa butter content and rich, glossy finish – which was “very expensive”.

Foley said, “We have had to put prices up – before the chocolate crisis, there was the egg crisis and prices haven’t really gone down there either.”

She highlighted that prices for raw materials had gone up by as much as three times and that clients had queried the cost at the till.

But, Foley added, “We ask them when they go to the grocery store if their grocery bill has increased. They say ‘yes’ and we say ‘it’s the same for us’.”

Foley said that an 11-pound bag of imported dark chocolate was about $96 three years ago but $186 at present, and that her team goes through 66 pounds a month, as well as 100 pounds of white chocolate.

Supermarket sales ‘unaffected’

Woody Foster, managing director of Foster’s supermarket chain, said rising costs had not affected sales of bakery goods containing chocolate.

He added that “all in all, chocolate products are doing well”.

Foster highlighted that the cost to retailers for other groceries, such as meat and coffee, had also risen.

“These are very difficult times and grocery prices are under immense pressure,” he said.

A spokesperson for Kirk Market declined to comment.

The global chocolate crisis has been caused by a triple whammy of extreme weather, high temperatures and plant viruses in major cocoa-producing countries over several years.

The West African nations of Côte d’Ivoire, the world’s largest producer of cocoa beans, and Ghana provide more than 60% of global supply between them, but production has been severely affected in recent times.

Foley said she had not experienced shortages, but she did not expect the price to fall any time soon.

She added, “I don’t expect things to ease off. Worldwide, everything is going up in price. I don’t expect prices to go down.”

Foley said she had tried to trim costs in other areas, changing her supplier of packaging from the US to directly from China, partly because of US tariffs pushing up prices.

But Foley said, “We can’t source chocolate from outside the US. Our supplier is a local one and they get their stuff from the US, so they have no choice.”

Foley said one of her signature creations was a chocolate cake, which used a lot of expensive ingredients, but, as a chocolate lover herself, she could not bring herself to compromise on quality.

Hotels adapt

The hotel industry has also been forced to adapt to the new normal as cocoa prices spiralled.

Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa, which uses up to 3,000 lbs of chocolate a year, said prices had “jumped a fair bit”.

Lead pastry chef Thomas Zimmerman said that planning and a strong relationship with suppliers were important.

Alisa Ali, the lead pastry chef at Hotel Indigo Grand Cayman, added, “We continue to use premium chocolate in our signature dishes, but we’ve also explored inventive alternatives that enhance flavours for our guests.”

She said, “Some chocolate-focused items have seen modest price adjustments to reflect global supply costs, but we’ve worked hard to keep experiences accessible while maintaining quality.”

Both chefs added that US tariffs had also helped force up the cost of chocolate, as well as other imported goods, in Cayman.

“Because of that, we’ve been looking into alternatives, sourcing directly from Europe where possible, to help stabilise pricing and maintain the quality we need,” Zimmerman said.

They both noted it could take up to 18 months for chocolate prices to steady.

“It could take another year or so for the market to settle,” Zimmerman said. “Weather issues in West Africa and the global demand are still making things unpredictable.”

Ali added, “The market is unpredictable, but we hope supply and pricing will begin to stabilise over the next year to year-and-a-half.”