Chocolate-flavored bars and small packs are here to stay, despite the price of cocoa hitting an almost three-year low and the price of sugar falling 20%.
It was last year, during record-high prices for cocoa, that customers started paying attention to smaller packs and the phrase “chocolate flavored” bars, as the cocoa content dropped to such a level that manufacturers could no longer describe their products as chocolate.
Read more: Real-life Wonka explains the chocolate crisis
Toffee Crisp and Blue Ribbon Bar Became “chocolate flavored” in DecemberBecause they did not contain the minimum 20% cocoa solids and 20% milk solids required to be described as milk chocolate in the UK.
Next came McVitie’s Penguins and the Club in OctoberWhereas kitkat White & McVitie’s White Digestive was rebranded before 2025.
Now what about the ‘chocolate flavor’ bar?
There doesn’t seem to be any change in the work.
None of the companies that responded to Sky News said they were making changes to products or recipes.
Nestle, maker of Toffee Crisp, Blue Ribbon, Quality Street and KitKat, told Sky News: “There are currently no plans to make further recipe or weight changes to our individual confectionery products.”
“In recent years, we have taken every possible step to mitigate the impact of high cocoa prices and keep our products affordable.
Although cocoa prices have been encouraging recently, the market remains volatile. We are keeping a close eye on the developments.”
Pladis, maker of penguin, club and white digestives, said it had no plans to make any changes.
Terry’s, Mars, which owns Celebrations, and Mondelez, which owns Cadbury, did not respond to Sky’s questions about the fall in cocoa prices and the changes they have made.
What had shrunk?
Last year, shoppers set their sights on light weight on many products. From 2021 to 2025, the Celebration became 150 grams lighter while becoming more expensive.
So did Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, which lost 20g in four years and Toblerone, which was found to be 20g lighter in September.
With the price increase, the price of Terry’s Chocolate Orange decreased by 12 grams from 2021 to 2025. Quality street tubs went from 600g to 550g at Christmas.
Multipacks also appeared less than once or twice.
The number of bars in a Freddo multipack increased from five to four, as did the Cadbury Fudge Bar pack. KitKat Two-Finger Milk Chocolate bars also dropped from 21 bars to 18 bars.
a change is Gonna Come?
The decline in cocoa has come too late for cheaper chocolate this Easter, although some chocolate may see a price decline over Christmas, as bulk cocoa, a key component of chocolate, reached a low last seen in August 2023.
Asked about the possibility of price drops in the run-up to Christmas, Dominic Simler of UK manufacturer Plain Choc said, “For smaller chocolate makers… who have higher cocoa percentages, I think we will be able to reduce prices, particularly those with higher cocoa content.”
“I think it’s possible if these prices remain stable and hold at these levels.”
Chocolate production in plain chalk
While cocoa prices have been falling since May last year, many suppliers may be tied to contracts that do not reflect recent lows.
Since cocoa prices were volatile, producers put future contracts on hold to plan clearly.
This will happen in mid-2026 when North Yorkshire manufacturer Whittaker’s Chocolates will be bought later this year and in 2027, Gemma Whittaker said.
Ms Whittaker said the impact of the war in the Middle East would drive up prices.
This means the drop in prices has come too late to pay less this Easter, as manufacturing and purchasing will be based on higher cocoa costs.
and that’s not all
Also, multinational producers tend to have lower cocoa content, around 20%, compared to manufacturers like Plain Choc, whose chocolate contains around 40% cocoa.
This means they have less risk of cocoa prices rising or falling.
“If your product only has 14 or 20% cocoa, as the seven big chocolate companies that supply supermarkets have, in fact, their biggest cost is not cocoa, by a large margin. Their biggest cost is sugar, white sugar and milk, milk fat, essentially,” Mr. Simler said.
“So for those guys, I don’t know what they’ll do.”
London sugar futures, a way to measure wholesale sugar costs, however, are about 20% cheaper than this time last year after a surplus in India and expectations of higher production in Brazil.
chocolate this easter
Easter egg prices are projected to rise 9% this year to 2025, according to industry data from market research provider Worldpanel.
It says a typical Easter egg will cost £3.27 in 2026.
Analysis from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) says the average price of popular Easter chocolates has risen by two-thirds in three years, with the price of some eggs more than doubling due to extreme weather induced by climate change.
What happened to cocoa?
Cocoa prices are 60% lower than a year ago, at about $3,150 a tonne compared to $12,218 in April 2024, due to oversupply in key producing regions of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.
Climate change has seriously damaged cocoa cultivation, causing prices to rise.
In response, producers such as Whittaker’s developed new products, such as coated ginger, Brazil nuts and a selection of fondants, that are less dependent on cocoa.
iran war effects
While cocoa prices remain low, producers are now struggling with higher transportation costs and face expensive electricity and packaging bills.
“Rising oil and gas prices have an impact on the entire supply chain, increasing the costs of production, packaging and distribution,” Ms Whittaker said.
“In addition, many packaging materials used in the confectionery industry – including plastics, films and foils – are either derived directly from oil or require significant energy to produce. As a result, any disruption to global energy markets could increase packaging costs.”
