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 notified its retailers last week that it would be implementing a roughly double-digit price increase company administrators commented 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 bargain policies Andrew Archambault president of US confection at Hershey noted in a comment 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 bicycle territory 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 syndrome 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 mentioned he expects cocoa inflation to continue into next year Other food companies including Conagra Brands Inc have stated tariffs have raised their supply costs including for tinplate steel and aluminum Hershey declared in May that it anticipated million to million of tariff costs in the second quarter The candy maker has sought the US regime for a tariff exemption on cocoa and is still hopeful it may receive one company personnel announced Tuesday With assistance from Ilena Peng Bloomberg L P Visit bloomberg com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC
