In Ecuador, the increase ranges between US$ 0.25 and US$ 0.80 per case or unit depending on the brand.
The high international prices that cocoa has been showing since last year and that in recent weeks have risen to almost US$ 10,000 per ton are reflected in the chocolate industry and in the businesses that sell different brands of national and imported chocolates with the increase in their consumer prices.
In the historic center of Quito (Ecuador), in confectioneries and commercial establishments that are dedicated to the sale of chocolates, the owners and managers confirmed that the price of these products is on the rise, hand in hand with the increase in the cost of raw materials. : cocoa.
The retail prices of chocolates have increased and sales have decreased due to complaints from frequent customers, who have stopped buying due to the high cost. This is what the owner of a chocolate and candy store near the San Francisco church tells it. In his case, the products have increased by about 25 cents due to complaints from his customers, to whom he explains that “cocoa has gone up, that's why the price increased.”
Global cocoa prices have risen from US$2,500 per metric ton in January 2023 to more than US$12,000 in April 2024. On June 21, it traded between US$8,512 and US$9,940 per ton for the delivery in September in the United States, according to the Investing portal.
This has generated a crisis in the world cocoa and chocolate market. In Ecuador, the sector has warned of the risk of bankruptcy and distortion for the market in general. The situation also causes financial problems for the purchase of the product and a natural increase in producer prices. The problem is not expected to subside soon, but rather to last several months or even years.
For her part, Jéssica Gualavisi, owner of a confectionery store, assures that prices have risen quite a bit; estimates that 60%. “Per case, the cost has an additional US$ 0.80. Previously, the Megaball chocolate case cost US$ 1.70 and now its price is US$ 2.50. Before, he could get a bale of that chocolate for US$22.50 and currently he buys it for US$30, that is, the increase is an extra US$7.50. That brand of chocolate is imported from Colombia.
Another Colombian chocolate brand, Chocobreak, also increased its price by US$0.80 per case: it went from costing US$2 to US$2.80. The merchant claims that before the bale cost US$36 and now she gets it for US$50.40, an additional US$14.40.
However, unlike other stores, Gualavisi has not had complaints from consumers, because it does not have frequent customers since the majority of its clientele are tourists or foreigners, which is why they do not perceive the increase in prices. , although she assures that she has been impacted by the increase in costs to keep her premises supplied.
He adds that other merchants in the sector have seen their sales affected by the increase in prices of different chocolates: “The colleagues from Tejar and Marín have reported declines in their sales, because customers are demanding the increase, and they have frequent customers, they "They get upset when they see the new tickets on hangers." She assures that the response that she and her colleagues give to customers when they receive a complaint about the price increase is the same: “Cocoa is expensive and, therefore, chocolates have increased their prices.”
On the other hand, another owner of these sweet shops in the historic center sector comments that her suppliers told her that some brands will raise prices and others will lower their per-hanger costs in the coming days.
In the case of Paccari, the brand reported last May that the price of the bar had increased from US$2.40 to US$2.90.
Meanwhile, the president of the board of directors of the National Association of Cocoa Exporters of Ecuador (Anecacao), Iván Ontaneda, confirms these increases also in the local industry. He assures that there are around 30 brands in the country, many of them ventures that rely on chocolate.
“There has been an increase in the price of chocolate in Ecuador; and in the world, obviously, there has already been an increase in the price, because the main raw material has had a growth of 400% in less than a year. This affects chocolate manufacturers, mainly small ones, because they do not have inventories and they have to buy at current prices,” explains Ontaneda.
