Trader Joe’s is a great place to grab some affordable snacks, especially for big groups. But if you are catering to a group of chocolate lovers you might have been shocked to see some price jumps in the last few weeks. Normally, Trader Joe’s snacks and its other store-brand products can be a respite from price volatility — it’s still selling eggs for under $4 per carton during the bird flu crisis, even as prices top $10 in many competitor’s stores, but no company is totally immune to the forces of the market. Thanks to tracking from some dedicated customers, we can see that rising chocolate prices are having an effect at Trader Joe’s too.
These insights come from two places: the unofficial Trader Joe’s price tracker, and users over on Reddit who have been posting updates. And what these sources have found is that there was a broad jump in chocolate prices at Trader Joe’s in just the last months. The Reddit post shows that peanut butter cups jumped $1 from $4.99 to $5.99, which is confirmed by the price tracker, and that was just one of a dozen different increases that hit at the end of February. While some items, like the Dark Chocolate Bar with Almonds, only increased by $0.30 or less, the chocolate-covered cherries have jumped $0.50, and 72% dark cacao jumped $1. And while price increases are often complicated, there is one clear cause: record high costs for cocoa.
Trader Joe’s chocolate was affected by big problems with worldwide cocoa production in 2024
The price increases for chocolate may be hitting Trader Joe’s now, but last year was a historically bad one for growing cocoa. There has been a perfectly bad storm of adverse factors for growing cocoa in West Africa over the last few years, a region which is responsible for 80% of the world’s cocoa production. Cocoa plants have been hit with outbreaks of multiple diseases that damage crops, including black pod disease and swollen shoot disease, which not only kill harvests but require trees to be entirely uprooted and replanted. Combined with the negative long-term effects that climate change has been having on agriculture, and poor local weather in 2024, cocoa prices jumped an astonishing 143% to $10,000 per metric ton. No wonder your favorite Trader Joe’s chocolate treats are getting more expensive.
While cocoa prices are undoubtedly the main culprit, there are probably other factors at play. Chocolate is a product with very inelastic demand, meaning purchasing stays consistent even as prices increase, so sellers are under less pressure to keep prices low. This is compounded by early year holiday seasons like Valentine’s and Easter, when chocolate demand is high. And while tariffs have not directly impacted most cocoa producers, uncertainty around future tariffs can lead to instability that pushes prices up anyway. It all means Trader Joe’s likely won’t be the only place you see these chocolate price increases.
