In October, the average retail price for a 250g block of chocolate at supermarkets and stores was $5.05, up from $4.89 in October 2023, according to Stats NZ data released last week (which doesn’t identify specific brands) though down from it’s 2024 peak of $5.58 in July.
Whittaker’s November announcement is the fourth time in two years that it’s upped its prices, with an earlier increase communicated in May.
In March 2023, Countdown was selling Whittaker’s 250g chocolate blocks for $6, with competitors Pak‘nSave and New World pricing theirs for $5.49 (discounted) and $7.09 respectively.
In February 2022, you could get a block for $5.49 from New World, where it was $4.69 a year previously.
In 2006, a block might set you back as little as $3.28 at some retailers.
Of its latest price hike, Whittaker’s explained the increase was a direct result of rising costs, acknowledging it would be hard to swallow for some shoppers.
“We are increasing prices by as little as we can to offset the ongoing production cost escalation we are facing, but we understand this is still significant,” the Whittaker’s representative told the Herald on Friday.
“A particular challenge is the ongoing global cocoa shortage, which affects the whole supply landscape and the cost of all cocoa and is continuing to push all chocolate prices up.
“Ultimately there comes a point when it is no longer possible to keep absorbing that cost escalation without compromising our commitments to quality and ethical sourcing.”
With harvests down 40% on 2023 due to weather, cocoa prices skyrocketed this year; by August global cocoa prices were up 150%, three times what they’d been in 2022.
The company hoped that Kiwis would agree a price increase was “preferable” to any changes to “our product size, recipes, product range, use of the finest ingredients, commitment to ethical sourcing, or where we make our chocolate”.
The Herald’s questions as to the exact amount of the new RRP went unanswered by Whittaker’s.
Further price rises next year could not be ruled out, with Whittaker’s saying it had limited control over production costs, which “directly” impact its pricing.
“We cannot predict the timing of any future price increases. What we can say is that we always aim to keep prices as steady as we possibly can.”
The company announced the rise on Facebook. Some commenters said the price was “getting too much already” and they would look to alternatives. “Looks like chocolate will be off the shopping list from now on unless a very special occasion.”
Others supported the decision and communication. “Thank you for being open and honest and not quietly/secretly reducing the size of the bars.”
“Love your chocolate and like that you give us a heads up on price increase,” another posted. “I will still be buying no matter what it costs.”
Many expressed loyalty to the New Zealand brand. The Whittaker family dates back to 1896 here.
“As long as you keep producing the products we know and love, we will remain loyal and purchase them. Maybe not as often, but we will still buy Whittaker’s chocolate,” read one comment.
“It’s perfectly understandable and you are doing all the right things. I’ll keep enjoying my four squares every night – a ritual that makes life worth living,” said another.
The increase in price to consumers reflects the cost of doing business in the chocolate industry.
Earlier this month, The Spinoff’s Gabi Lardies suggested that higher prices could be the new normal for the category, talking to a local chocolate expert Luke Owen Smith who said that the historically low price of beans has made it “very difficult for cocoa farmers to make a decent living” and cheap chocolate represented a “deeply unfair and unsustainable system”.
The pressures on cocoa bean farmers and their crops had been behind a recent announcement from Whittaker’s that it would be expanding its sourcing.
In October, the company said it had been forced to diversify its cocoa supply chain, supplementing beans from Ghana (which had been its sole source) to those from a “range of countries” in Africa, including Uganda and Cote d’Ivoire, that it said met it’s “stringent” ethical standards of fully traceable and 100% Rainforest Alliance-certified beans.
“The reality is that the global cocoa shortage looks set to continue, which is also unfortunately likely to have ongoing impacts on the price of all chocolate into the future,” co-chief operating officer Matt Whittaker told the Herald.
The new blends would be on shelves later this year, expected to start appearing in early December.
It would follow the latest price rise, which comes ahead of the holiday season, a time when chocolate often makes its way into shopping baskets, gifts and festive recipes.
Chocolate isn’t the product going up in price for New Zealanders; olive oil continues to be expensive - a global shortage of olive oil has seen eye-watering prices for imported varieties – and milk and butter are both up too.
Emma Gleason is the Herald’s lifestyle and entertainment deputy editor. Based in Auckland, she covers entertainment and culture.
