CHOCOLATE manufacturers are shrinking Easter eggs and hiking prices — because the cost of cocoa has hit a 40-year high.
Storms and disease have clobbered crops in Ghana and the Ivory Coast in West Africa and experts predict the problem will get worse.
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Record prices will kick in when manufacturers run out of last year’s cocoa supplies meaning Brits will pay more even as food inflation falls.
According to data for The Sun by market researchers Assosia, a 220g Kinder Surprise Giant Egg is now £13.13 — a 16.7 per cent jump on last year’s £11.25, and a 215g Lindt Lindor milk chocolate egg is £9.50 — 22.5 per cent up on £7.75.
The prices of Thorntons, Ferrero Rocher and Maltesers eggs have also gone up.
A Cadbury Dairy Milk Easter Egg, meanwhile, has shrunk from 286g to 245g, according to the analysis at major supermarket chains.
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On the financial markets, cocoa was £5,258 a tonne in February, yet £2,093 in 2023.
The International Cocoa Organisation forecasts a 10.9 per cent fall in production for 2024 and a global deficit.
Cadbury owner Mondelez International said it was facing significantly higher input costs, notably for ingredients such as cocoa and sugar, so products were “much more expensive to make”.
It said: “As a result, we’ve made some carefully considered cost price increases across our Easter range.”
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Analysts said some firms were trying to lower costs by filling eggs and bars with nuts, caramel or other flavours to reduce cocoa levels.
WET FEB IS HIGH ST WASH-OUT
THE wettest February on record proved to be a wash-out for the High Street.
Total retail sales inched just 1.1 per cent higher, significantly below the 5.2 per cent growth in February last year and the three months’ average rise of 1.4 per cent, figures reveal.
Analysts said that once inflation at 4 per cent is stripped out, sales volumes were heavily depressed.
Non-food sales — fashion, furniture and electrical goods — fell 2.5 per cent.
Food sales rose 6 per cent, but this was below last year and the average spending over the past 12 months.
Helen Dickinson, boss of the British Retail Consortium, said: “Consumer demand was dampened by the wettest February on record.
“Not even Valentine’s Day lifted customers out of the gloom, and products that typically sell well, like jewellery and watches, failed to deliver. “
SLUMP DAY GIRL
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THE music royalty fund that owns the rights to songs such as Sunday Girl by Blondie and tunes by Red Hot Chili Peppers has hit another bum note with investors after its valuation was slashed by a quarter.
HIPGNOSIS, which has spent billions buying thousands of song rights, said that an independent audit put a £1.52billion valuation on it, around 26 per cent lower than in September.
It is another blow for the FTSE 250 songs fund which had promised investors a low-risk steady income from song royalties. Instead the firm has been troubled by shareholder revolts and legal battles with founder Merck Mercuriadis.
Shares fell by almost 10 per cent yesterday.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould said: “Hipgnosis has been cast aside like a one-hit wonder boyband.”
OUTRAGE AS SHEIN IS WOOED
RETAIL chiefs have attacked the Chancellor’s efforts to woo Shein for a London listing and accused the fast-fashion giant of exploiting tax loopholes.
Last week it emerged that Jeremy Hunt had met with Shein’s chairman Donald Tang to lure him to London
The company, recently valued at £50billion, ships its cheap clothes from Chinese factories to shoppers in small packets, meaning it does not pay import duties.
High street firms said it had not been competing on a level playing field.
The Retail Sector Council, which includes bosses of Boots, Amazon and Sainsbury’s, are leading criticism and have accused Shein of exploiting the tax system, The Telegraph said.
M&S BOSS IN APPEAL TO GOVT
GOVERNMENT policy makes being boss of a retailer “like running up a downwards escalator with a rucksack on your back”, the chief of MARKS & SPENCER claimed yesterday.
Stuart Machin took to LinkedIn to say the Government had work to do to better understand the retail sector, which employs 3million people and pays £17billion in taxes.
Ahead of tomorrow’s Budget, Mr Machin called on Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to bring annual business rates down in line with the lower inflation rate of 4 per cent, rather than the current 7 per cent.
Mr Machin also urged the Chancellor to bring back tax-free tourist shopping and to widen the scope of the apprenticeship levy.
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The pleas come as retailers compete to raise wages to keep workers, sparking fears of higher inflation.
Electrical retailer Currys is hiking its minimum wage to £12-an-hour.
SHIPPING RECORD
SHIPPING firm Clarksons raked in record profits last year, despite Red Sea disruption.
It posted a 8.2 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £109.2million while revenues inched 5 per cent higher.
Shipping companies have been charging higher fees and arranging longer voyages to avoid ships being attacked by Houthi rebels in the Suez Canal.
Clarksons chief Andi Case said he was optimistic on “the near, medium and long term future” of the firm.
