World: Chocolate manufacturers will reduce cocoa content due to rising cocoa bean prices

When Mars Inc. last year slightly changed its popular Galaxy chocolate bar, reducing the standard weight of the product by 10 g, British customers were surprised, but cocoa traders - not, reports mind. The 113-year-old company, known for its sweets including Twix and M&M's, seems to follow a golden rule from the confectioners' textbook: When the cost of cocoa rises, they find ways to sell smaller doses of chocolate -- or new treats without chocolate at all. Cocoa prices have risen to record highs, Bloomberg writes, and market participants do not expect a decline in the near future. The cost has risen sharply as the world's biggest producers in West Africa struggle with drought and disease, as well as logistical problems that can last for years. From the 1980s to 2023, cocoa bean futures were below $3,500 per ton every year. Cocoa futures topped $6,000 per ton for the first time on February 22, and the market fears that prices will rise further. We actively tried to find ways to ...