“Cocoa futures traded around $3,100 per tonne, holding close to the lowest since May 2023, as market fundamentals remained pressured by expectations of a bumper West African crop.” It’s crazy to think that, even with chocolate prices going up, the actual cost for people who are hand picking the cocoa beans is still going down despite them getting paid essentially less than the price of a bar of chocolate for labor.
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Companies aren’t charging a straight markup on commodity-based products. They’re charging what the market will bear. When commodities spike, they raise prices, and when commodities drop they…do nothing. The reason is largely due to massive levels of consolidation in practically every capital-intensive industry, which has resulted in a small number of incumbents with highly defendable strategic positions and nearly insurmountable barriers to entry for potential competitors. This isn’t just a chocolate (or even CPG / FMCG) thing.
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Here is an archived version [https://archive.is/FVnIt](https://archive.is/FVnIt)
since the article prices have come down further to 2023 level [(chart)](https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/cocoa)
consumer prices haven’t budged ([source](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-14/cocoa-gets-cheaper-but-chocolate-makers-are-still-holding-back?embedded-checkout=true)). Why is that? There are different producers of chocolate products that seem to actually compete. Demand went down according to reports as well. So what gives?
“Cocoa futures traded around $3,100 per tonne, holding close to the lowest since May 2023, as market fundamentals remained pressured by expectations of a bumper West African crop.” It’s crazy to think that, even with chocolate prices going up, the actual cost for people who are hand picking the cocoa beans is still going down despite them getting paid essentially less than the price of a bar of chocolate for labor.
Companies aren’t charging a straight markup on commodity-based products. They’re charging what the market will bear. When commodities spike, they raise prices, and when commodities drop they…do nothing. The reason is largely due to massive levels of consolidation in practically every capital-intensive industry, which has resulted in a small number of incumbents with highly defendable strategic positions and nearly insurmountable barriers to entry for potential competitors. This isn’t just a chocolate (or even CPG / FMCG) thing.