Hershey raising candy prices by double digits on high cocoa costs
By Kristina Peterson Bloomberg News Hershey Co is raising prices on its candy due to historically high cocoa costs The Pennsylvania-based maker of Hershey s chocolates and Reese s Peanut Butter Cups narrated its retailers last week that it would be implementing a roughly double-digit price increase company administrators stated Tuesday That increase reflects a higher list price as well as adjustments to the weight and number of candies in a bag a practice known as shrinkflation This change is not related to tariffs or exchange policies Andrew Archambault president of US confection at Hershey declared in a report It reflects the reality of rising ingredient costs including the unprecedented cost of cocoa The company previously disclosed a price increase a year ago Related Articles OpenAI CEO Sam Altman warns of an AI fraud problem Tesla s sales in California drops for seventh straight quarter Global electric motorcycle industry surges as demand shifts toward fully electric models Venus Williams wins st singles match in years at DC Open Trump administration axes plans to kill invasive owls in Northern California The price of cocoa has surged in the last two years due to supply shortages in the wake of malady and poor weather in Ivory Coast and Ghana which usually account for more than of global supplies Cocoa futures have more than doubled and touched a record in December upending the chocolate industry Cocoa futures prices have since cooled as global production improves and demand slumps but costs remain high above historical levels Swiss chocolatier Lindt Spruengli AG pushed through a price increase in the first half of the year and its chief executive disclosed he expects cocoa inflation to continue into next year Other food companies including Conagra Brands Inc have reported tariffs have raised their supply costs including for tinplate steel and aluminum Hershey revealed in May that it anticipated million to million of tariff costs in the second quarter The candy maker has required the US leadership for a tariff exemption on cocoa and is still hopeful it may receive one company agents stated Tuesday With assistance from Ilena Peng Bloomberg L P Visit bloomberg com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC
