Quiet dilution: Why your favourite bar might not be chocolate anymore

High cocoa prices force makers to downgrade some UK labels to just ‘chocolate-flavoured’ bars

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After soaring for nearly two years, cocoa prices dropped sharply in 2025. However, chocolate, in demand ahead of the festive holiday season, has seen prices rise.

Ivory Coast and Ghana are the world’s biggest suppliers of pods — the fruit of the cocoa tree — from which cocoa beans are extracted to make chocolate.

A concentrated market

The two West African countries account for more than half of global production, with most of the remainder coming from Brazil, Cameroon, Ecuador, Indonesia, and Nigeria.

The geographic concentration of plantations makes the cocoa market highly vulnerable to West Africa’s weather patterns and tree diseases. Cultivation is meanwhile carried out by a very large number of independent smallholders. Cocoa harvests between 2021 and 2024 failed to meet demand, which sent prices soaring.

Ageing trees, virus