Good news for chocolate lovers as cocoa prices fall

Following more than a year of rocketing cocoa prices that saw the cost of related products like chocolate climb, there's been a virtual collapse in the price of the precious beans over 2025.

The price drop is estimated to be as much as 45% since January this year, and more than 50% below the record highs of 2024.

In March last year already, prices passed $10,000 per metric ton for the first time ever, later reaching $12, 000.

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For chocolate lovers, the question is whether the welcome downward trend is translating into more value from their favourite treat at the tills.

It does constitute good news however both for consumers and manufacturers, says agricultural economist Thabile Nkunjana, especially heading into the festive season and the Valentine's chocolate frenzy still ahead in February.

However, the market is always going to be cautious, he warns.

"There are things we can't predict in the long run - if it's not disease outbreaks it's the speculation around imbalance in the market, the changes in the production dynamics and of course the exports themselves."

Scroll up to the audio player to hear more from Nkunjana