Enjoy your already inflated Easter eggs - experts predict chocolate could be ... trends now
By Easter Monday, Cadburys alone will have sold more than 450m chocolate eggs and 15 million bunnies in Australia and New Zealand, despite the soaring price of the festive treats.
Prices are up about 10 per cent this year compared to 2023 with a bag of small chocolate eggs going up from $5 to $5.50.
But chocoholics should be warned that a much higher price hike is on the way.
This year's haul of sweet treats has been saved from the full effect of cocoa futures reaching more than $15,300 a tonne because Easter eggs are made up to a year in advance before they land on supermarket shelves.
But as production continues on next year's Easter treats, the price shock will be factored in long before they're in stock for next year's celebrations.
Easter egg prices are up about 10 per cent this year but there is a far higher price hike coming next year. A woman is pictured holding a chocolate Easter bunny
Cocoa future prices - an agreement between to pay a certain price for at a set date - in the London exchange rose by about 300 per cent in the past year and around 237 per cent in New York.
RaboBank expects cocoa prices to fall and settle at around $9,000 a tonne - 124 per cent above the average price over the last five years.
RaboResearch analyst Pia Piggott said there had been a reduction in cocoa production in the African countries Ivory Coast and Ghana – where 60 per cent of the world's cocoa beans are grown.
'It is a combination of a range of agricultural and other factors, including adverse weather conditions, ageing trees and disease in crops,' she told the read more from dailymail.....
