‘Be careful with sales, they’re not really sales’: Chocolate prices soar ahead of Easter

Shoppers are getting a not-so-sweet surprise when hunting for Easter chocolate with prices up again this year.

If you’ve found yourself doing a double take at the price of chocolate recently, that’s because it’s gone up.

“If you go to the grocery store or even the pharmacy, you shouldn’t be expecting to save much this year. Chocolate prices are probably up about 10 per cent rom last year,” says Sylvain Charlebois, Dalhousie University’s agri-food analytics lab director.

“The rally started in 2024. Since then, we’ve seen prices skyrocketing. Cocoa futures are actually down… so it’s good news.”

But he says chocolate prices aren’t expected to drop until next year, meaning consumers won’t see a price-break in time for Easter.

“Be careful with sales. They’re not really sales. They’ll show you a chocolate bunny, that is on sale 10 per cent off… 20 per cent, but they’re not really lower compared to last year, unfortunately,” says Charlebois.

Halifax resident Patrick McClelland says the jump in chocolate prices is not surprising.

“Everything’s up because inflation and this time of year with the war. It’s frustrating. I’m sure a lot of people just want to have a good little holiday, and they’re going to spend I don’t know how much extra on chocolate. It seems ridiculous,” he says.

Because of “skimp-flation,” Charlebois says some chocolate products are not 100 per cent chocolate.

“That’s mostly big manufacturers that have done that, replacing cocoa with other substitutes. But, if you have a small professional store, you can’t compromise on quality. So you still have to keep on buying cocoa and pay the price,” says Charlebois.

It’s a reality the owner of Whim Chocolate in Halifax says he knows all too well. Marshall Parker says the price of their base chocolate has increased by 100 percent.

“We are really committed to keeping our quality at the highest standards that we possibly can, and that may involve an increase in price but we’re not going to compromise on the quality of our chocolate,” says Parker.

As for whether Easter sales will be affected by current chocolate costs, he says they won’t know the full-scope until after the holiday.

“You could have one person that comes in and buys everything they see… money’s not an object. And other people are like, ‘Oh, well, you know, I might just get one instead of multiples that I have gotten in the past.’”

Charlebois says dairy and chocolate milk are also more expensive now compared to last year.

He expects chocolate prices to start dropping by mid-summer.