Chocolatiers raise prices amid the struggle to find cocoa beans.

This week's Fun Friday includes BIG Cheez-It news, some bitter news for New Yorkers and Hawaiians on chocolate prices, and more.

Potential solutions to revitalize the cocoa sector are on the horizon, spearheaded by two Italian startups actively involved in the FoodSeed program.

U.S. consumers are paying more for chocolate products as confection manufacturers raise prices in response to the soaring cost of cocoa. 

We recently talked to a Mintec representative about why cocoa prices have gone up, and his predictions for the rest of this year and early 2024.

Even though inflation has been slowing down for some food products, prices for commodities, such as cocoa, have still been rising.

Candy Industry Senior Editor Liz Parker recently was able to touch base with Nidhi Jain, associate specialist, The Smart Cube, London, on raw sugar and cocoa prices reaching 10-year and 7-year highs, and trends on sugar and cocoa prices.

Fairtrade International says sales of Fairtrade-certified cocoa from Côte d’Ivoire in the fourth quarter of 2019 increased farmers’ earnings by approximately $15.1 million compared to non-Fairtrade cocoa.

Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire have agreed to institute a per-tonne “living income differential” as part of a new payment structure designed to fortify incomes of the countries’ cocoa producers.

Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire have suspended pre-sales of the 2020-2021 season cocoa crop as the governments work to institute a base price for cocoa from those countries.