Chocolate fans in Japan, one of Asia’s biggest cocoa buyers, are in for a big shock later this year as an unprecedented rise in cocoa prices finally reaches stores.
Itochu, one of the country’s largest trading companies and cocoa importers, says a sudden increase in the retail price of chocolate is inevitable and expects processors to use more substitutes to rein in costs.
Cocoa prices have fallen and New York futures have more than doubled since the start of the year. The rally may continue as crop declines in Ivory Coast and Ghana, the main suppliers, are squeezing buyers for beans and traders pulling out of the market make prices more vulnerable to wide swings.
