Chocolate prices could be higher this Halloween

SALT LAKE CITY — If you plan to fill your Halloween bowl with chocolate candy, be prepared for higher sticker prices.

Cocoa crops have been producing less and less over the past few years thanks to above-average rainfall and hotter-than-normal temperatures. Both of these have led to a higher rate of diseased cocoa trees. Wells Fargo’s Agri-Food Institute told CNN the price of cocoa has nearly doubled since the beginning of this year.

Owner of the chocolate manufacturer Mrs. Cavanaugh’s, Mike Wall, said a lot of the raised prices have to do with the stock market.

“Speculators on the stock market, that’s what’s driven the price up so high,” Wall said. “Realistically, if it wasn’t on the stock market, [cocoa would] probably be up, maybe, 5 or 10% … It’s doubled and tripled within the last year and a half.”

However, Wall suspects this won’t last forever.

“I’m guessing at some point in time the speculators are going to stop speculating,” he said. “The price will probably settle back down around the $4,000 to $5,000 per metric ton range, instead of the, I think it’s around $9,000 or $10,000 right now.”

He said the company prepared early and contracted several years’ supply of chocolate before the price hikes, so Mrs. Cavanaugh’s has not needed to raise prices and hopes not to for the next few months. However, other companies are upping prices to deal with the shortage.

Allessandra Harris-Gurr is a reporter for KSL NewsRadio.

Related: The price of chocolate isn’t going down anytime soon