Chocolate prices climb in Boston as Valentine's Day approaches. Here's why.
BOSTON - Valentine's Day is approaching, and there's plenty of chocolate on store shelves, and on customers' minds.
They're having to dig deeper, however, to pay for it.
Chocolate prices on the rise
The price of Valentine's Day chocolates may be leaving some with a bitter taste.
"It's been a pretty significant jump," said chocolatier Christine Vistro.
The United States is the world's largest importer of chocolate. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), between 2017-2021 the U.S. imported roughly $2.8 billion worth of chocolate per year.
Taza Chocolate, Vistro's employer, pays a premium for fair-trade cocoa from countries like the Dominican Republic, Ghana and Uganda.
"A lot of the world's cocoa comes from West Africa. The Ivory Coast and Ghana produce 70% of all the cocoa consumed in the world today," Vistro said.
Why is chocolate so expensive?
According to Vistro, recent climate challenges have shrunk crops.
"West Africa - they had a big drought in their crop in 2023. It was really wet in 2024, and because of the smaller crop, we've seen a really big increase in cocoa prices," she said.
The reduced crop has more than doubled the cost of importing beans for Taza, a Somerville small business. That increased cost trickles down to the customers.
"Whatever is happening at their crop is going to affect the market as a whole," Vistro said.
"Go and get the good stuff"
Still, customers are willing to pay for ethically sourced, high-quality cocoa processed in-house from bean to bar.
"We are paying a premium on top of the prices on the market," said Vistro.
As prices continue to rise, some shoppers are thinking twice.
"Dark chocolate is the way to my heart," said Boston resident Jessica Gullak. "There's 17 pieces in here; that's almost a dollar per piece of chocolate."
Vistro's advice for Valentine's Day shoppers: If you're buying chocolate for your sweetheart, spring for the real thing.
"I would say go and get the good stuff," said Vistro.
