Chocolate brands hatch new eggs in hunt for your Easter dollar
By Nick Dent
Moulding chocolate into an egg, rabbit or bilby has always been a good excuse to bump up its price, but if your Easter-egg bill seems steeper than usual this year, it’s down to a global surge in the cost of cacao.
In the past two years, the price of cacao has quadrupled to almost US$12,000 ($19,000) per metric tonne due to a disease affecting the plant in West Africa, where more than 70 per cent of the world’s cacao is grown.
According to a report by international development charity Christian Aid, global temperature rises added at least three weeks above 32°C to the main cacao crop season in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, which is above the trees’ optimal range. Unseasonal wet conditions also exacerbated root rot.
The Big Bunny from Noosa Chocolate Factory, which has vowed to absorb an increase in cacao prices rather than pass them on to customers.Credit: Noosa Chocolate Factory
As a result, your classic Cadbury Humpty Dumpty egg can now cost $9.50 at Coles.
But QUT professor Gary Mortimer believes a retail price rise of up to 20 per cent won’t do much to dampen sales.
“Spending on Easter food and chocolate is expected to top $2 billion this year,” he said.
While Lindt and Cadbury have blamed their price rises on the cacao crisis, Noosa Chocolate Factory, which has two shops on the Sunshine Coast and three in Brisbane’s CBD, has pledged to keep its Easter prices the same as last year.
Nick Southon, general manager of the Noosaville-based company, said the reason they could to do so was the fact Noosa Chocolate Factory was a fully integrated business that could look for savings elsewhere.
“We don’t have any wholesale accounts, we only sell through our own shops,” he said.
“If we were wholesaling, we’d have to make sure that someone else was making a margin.”
Despite the cost pressures, the range of Easter eggs keeps growing each year.
A Darrell Lea spokesperson said they wouldn’t be relying on nostalgia for brand staples such as the bilby and solid nougat egg.
“Innovation is at the heart of our strategy,” the spokesperson said. “Australians are always on the lookout for fresh, exciting ways to celebrate the season.”
In that spirit, we asked the chocolate majors for their fresh spins on Easter themes. This is what they suggested.
Alternatively, you can go and support Brisbane’s independent chocolate makers.
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