A lot of the things I buy, I do it because I’ve heard there’s potentially going to be a shortage or a price increase. I am NOT a fan of chocolate in any form . . well Goldbrick eggs maybe but I can’t find them here so, for all practical purposes, I don’t eat chocolate.
But, a few months ago, I heard there was likely going to be a cocoa shortage. I will make a few things during the year that require cocoa powder. Vince likes chocolate. I made him a chocolate cake with chocolate icing for his birthday. I will make a couple of things during the holidays that require cocoa powder. Addie likes my homemade hot chocolate mix.
In January, when I heard there might be a shortage and price increase, I ordered 5 pounds from Azure Standard.
I knew if there was a shortage, Nicole would need cocoa powder because she doesn’t pay attention to things like that so I knew 5 pounds would give me enough to share plenty with them. Addie loves to bake.
You can see that in January, I paid $24.64 for 5 pounds of Fair trade organic cocoa powder.
Here’s how much it was last night at Azure.
In just a bit over two months, it has gone up – that’s over 61%.
Out of curiosity, I checked Walmart’s price on cocoa powder:
Aldi does show that they have it for $2.75 for 8 oz., which would be $5.50 per pound. Walmart’s is right at $10 per pound so five pounds of cocoa from Walmart would be $50. With the transportation cost added to the Azure cocoa, 5 pounds would now be $43.38. To be fair, Walmart’s one pound would be $10. Azure’s one pound would be about $11 with the transportation charges.
Pay attention to what you’re hearing and for things that store well, if you have the funds and the space, you may want to stock up on things you know you will use before the prices increase more.
Teri says
Great advice! That cocoa powder sure jumped in price so quickly!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Yes they did and I almost didn’t buy it because I can certainly live without it but decided to get it just so Chad and his family will have it if they run out.
Cody says
There are times that I believe that people don’t do that because of their fear of the use by date. I have been trying to convince my family for years that it’s a guide, not the be all end all.
I see that there are finally books and tv programs out on that myth.
Pat Hudnall says
Where do you hear about prices going up? Thanks for any info you can give me. Love your blog!!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I listen to and read all kinds of things. I try to watch the global commodity prices at least daily. Anything I see that looks a little “interesting”, I’ll dig a little farther. This article from February talked about the anticipated interest in sugar prices. This chart shows the 2023 increase in cocoa prices. When I saw that at the end of 2023, I began doing a little more investigation. That’s when I decided to buy cocoa. In the grand scheme of life and prices going up, does it really matter if I pay $4.00 per pound for cocoa or if I pay $12.00 per pound? No, because one pound of cocoa will last me probably 5+ years but it’s something I enjoy doing – watching the futures. There have been plenty of times when I’ve told Vince that corn or barley prices are about to go up or it’s going to be harder to get and we’ll order 100 or more pounds. If I know we’ll use it and it looks like a good buy, I don’t hesitate to buy 100 pounds of dent corn.
There are dozens of things like that I watch and I’m sure that would be torture for most people.
Vivian Oaks says
I just heard last week about the cost of chocolate skyrocketing. That’s unreal that it’s already gone up so much!! Unreal. And of course, you know when the price on something goes up, it never goes back down.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Yes, I’m very glad I overruled myself and ordered it in January. I came so close to not doing it. I’m sending some of it home with Addie today.