Choc drops

Climate change the reason why Ireland has lost sweet tooth

- BY LYNNE KELLEHER

CLIMATE change - and not health concerns - are being blamed for consumers cutting back on their chocolate intake.

New analysis by Euromonitor International reveals that the volume of chocolate eaten in Ireland has been declining since 2022, decreasing from 38,400 tonnes to a forecast 35,500 by the end of 2025.

But their figures show the value of the chocolate confectionery market is booming, set to hit €987m this year - up from €739m just three years ago, according to the data analytics company.

A global cocoa shortage, driven by extreme weather and crop disease, has sent wholesale costs upwards.

Cocoa was recently named as one of six commodities to come from countries vulnerable to environmental threats.

Ilona Fleischmann, senior research analyst at Euromonitor International, said Irish consumers are eating less chocolate.