Easter will be quite expensive this year, as the price of dark chocolate has gone up by nearly 50% in the past two years, according to price trends in the supermarket analysed by consumer protection organisation Testachats.
"Dark chocolate has been in the top 3 of products with the biggest price increases for some time: it costs 38% more than a year ago, 49% more than two years ago and 70% more than in January 2022," said Testachats.
This means that consumers now pay remarkably more for 100 g of home-brand chocolate than in previous years. Take Colruyt's own brand (Boni) milk chocolate with praliné: in early 2024, a 200 g pack cost €1.99, now the price is at €3.49.
High prices
Similar increases are also seen at well-known chocolate brands. For Jacques' dark chocolates, prices were just under €3 last year, now they are over a euro more expensive. A Côte d'Or standard package of 400 g pure chocolate bars now costs €4.59 in supermarkets – nearly €1.50 more than last year.
Generally speaking, dark chocolate now costs 38% more than before Easter last year, while the price of milk chocolate has gone up by 26%. When looking at the prices around Easter 2023, the difference is even clearer: customers now pay 48% more for dark chocolate and 34% for milk chocolate.
These price hikes do not only affect chocolate bars, but also other sweets and products made with it: chocolate biscuits, for example, are 28% more expensive than at the same time last year. Candy bars like Snickers or Mars cost roughly 20% more than this time last year.
A child holding chocolate Easter eggs. Credit: Belga/ Bruno Fahy
"The reason for the price increases – especially for dark chocolate – lies in the price of cocoa. Last year, this rose sharply on wholesale markets," said Testachats.
However, things might be looking up: February saw a firm drop in cocoa prices. With lower demand and better weather conditions, this should lead to a bigger crop – and hopefully lower prices on supermarket shelves.
Testaankoop has been tracking prices in seven supermarket chains (Albert Heijn, Carrefour, Colruyt, Cora, Delhaize, Aldi and Lidl) for more than three years, calculating in-store inflation. In March 2025, it stood at 3.97% – up from 3.39% in February.
