Christina Peterson, Bloomberg News
Hershey Co. has been increasing the price of candy due to historically high cocoa costs.
The Pennsylvania-based maker of Hershey’s chocolate and Leased’s peanut butter cups told retailers last week it would implement a nearly double-digit price hike, officials said Tuesday. That increase reflects a higher price increase and adjustment, as well as an adjustment to the weight and number of candies in the bag, a practice known as shrink flation.
“The changes have no relation to tariffs or trade policies,” Andrew Alcambaud, president of Hershey’s American sweets, said in a statement. “This reflects the reality of rising ingredient costs, including the unprecedented costs of cocoa.”
The company previously announced a price increase a year ago.
Cocoa prices have skyrocketed over the past two years. This is usually more than 60% of global supply due to supply shortages caused by illness and inclement weather in Ivory Coast and Ghana. Cocoa futures have overturned the chocolate industry by more than doubled in December.
Cocoa futures prices have since been cooled down due to improved global production and poor demand, but costs have exceeded historical levels.
Swiss chocolatiers Lindt & Spruengli AG boosted a price rise of 15.8% in the first half of the year, with its chief executive saying it expects cocoa inflation to last until next year.
Other food companies, including Conagra Brands Inc., say tariffs, including Tinplate Steel and Aluminum, have increased supply costs.
Hershey said in May that tariff costs between $15 million and $20 million are expected in the second quarter. Candymakers are seeking the US government for a tariff exemption on cocoa and hope it will receive one person, officials said Tuesday.
With the support of Ilena Peng.
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Original issue: July 23, 2025, 1:23pm EDT
