Being a chocoholic is tough in 2023, as prices for key ingredients like cocoa and sugar are skyrocketing.

Cocoa buyers are seeing the highest price levels since the mid-1970s. Meanwhile, sugar prices are at their highest levels in 10 years.

DON’T MISS: Commodities are in a rate bull market.

That trend is driving chocolate prices up at the checkout counter forcing even passionate cake and candy lovers to think twice about the snacks and sweets aisle.

Chocolate prices are up 20% since 2021, according to consumer intelligence company Nielson IQ with data analysis help from Reuters. For a year or so, candy-loving consumers kept buying their favorite chocolate sweets, but the second half of 2023 should be different as cost considerations weigh heavy on consumers.

“The increase in sugar and cocoa specifically is material,” Mondelez chief financial officer Luca Zaramella said in an earnings call last month. “We are talking about most likely a 30-plus percent (price rise) if you look at the last 12 months, or even more, particularly in cocoa.”

More Retail:

• ‘Too pretty’ Home Depot worker faces backlash after viral mirror post
• A classic kitchenware brand files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
• Who’s running The Gap? With no CEO, retailer hurtles toward crisis

Chocolate pricing stability could be on the way just in time for Halloween and year-end holiday seasons after years of rising U.S. wholesale import costs.

“The import price per kilogram of Chocolate into the U.S. over the last five years has seen a steady increase. In 2017, the price was $4.98, and in 2021 it was $5.23, representing an increase of 5.2%,” noted Selina Wamucii, a food and agricultural produce sourcing platform in a recent research note. “The highest price was in 2021, at $5.25, and the lowest was in 2012, at $4.14. The average price over the last five years was $5.09.”

Looking ahead, Selina expects the import price per kilogram of chocolate into the U.S. to remain steady, with a “predicted price of $5.27 in 2023 and $5.30 in 2024,” the company added.

Candy bar consumers could you use a break, considering the cost of a Mars bag of Snickers rose from $5 in 2021 to $12 in 2022. Currently, a similar-sized 10.36 ounce bag of Snickers is selling for $13.95 right now on Amazon.com.

It’s not much better down the candy aisle, with Skittles rising in cost by 42% from 2021, Hershey  (HSY) – Get Free Report hiking its candy costs by the high double-digits, and the cost of Halloween candy soaring 34% from 2021 to 2022 – with expectations for continued high costs for the 2023 Halloween season.