Halloween candy prices haunted by weather woes, soaring to spine-tingling heights
According to Datasembly, a retail price tracking company, the prices of candy and gum have surged by an average of 13% this month compared to last October, which is more than double the 6% increase in all grocery prices. This increase comes on top of a 14% jump in candy and gum prices in October 2022.
Weather Impact
The driving force behind these higher prices is adverse weather conditions.
Cocoa prices have reached a 44-year high due to heavy rains in West Africa, leading to limited production during the previous season. Unfortunately, El Niño conditions are causing the region to become even drier, and this trend is expected to persist well into the spring.
Dan Sadler, Principal of Client Insights for Circana, a market research firm, pessimistically states, «There may be no price relief in sight, at least through the first half of 2024.» Kelly Goughary, a senior research analyst with Gro Intelligence, an agricultural analytics firm, reports that Ivory Coast, responsible for approximately 40% of the world's cocoa, is currently experiencing one of its worst droughts since 2003.
In addition to cocoa, global sugar prices are also soaring, hitting 12-year highs.
India, the world's second-largest sugar producer after Brazil, recently banned sugar exports for the first time in seven years due to monsoon-related damage to the upcoming harvest. Thailand's sugar output has also declined.
Rising Costs Across the Board
These escalating costs, combined with increases in labor, packaging, and ingredients like peanuts, are affecting the prices of all types of candy.
Discount grocery chain Aldi, for instance, is advertising a 250-piece variety pack of Mars Inc. chocolate bars, including Milky Way, Twix, and Snickers, for
. Read more on economictimes.indiatimes.com
