Can you still afford chocolate for Valentine’s Day? Prices are surging, and this is why

12 February 2025, 11:30 | Updated: 14 February 2025, 17:01

A box of chocolates is a Valentine’s Day staple for many, but climate change in the key cocoa growing regions of West Africa is sending shockwaves through the $100 billion global industry.

Following a devastating heatwave in West Africa in 2024, the price of cocoa has shot up 400%. A study from the World Weather Attribution group found that climate change made the heatwave 10 times more likely.

The cocoa shortage started a year earlier after unexpectedly heavy rainfall in 2023 during Ghana’s dry season. Total precipitation in West Africa was more than double the 30-year average for that time of year and the wet conditions caused plants to rot with black pod disease.

The UN reported Ghana’s subsequent 2024 drought affected more than 1 million people, resulting in terrible crop losses and record-high food prices.

This week, a new study from researchers at Climate Central has found that in 2024 alone climate change added 6 weeks’ worth of hot days above 32°C in 71% of cocoa-producing West Africa – temperatures too hot for cocoa growing, which will only add to the problem.

It’s proven to be a major headache for British chocolatiers.

Andy Soden, from Kernow Chocolate in Cornwall, said: “It’s a nightmare, I don’t think any business involved in chocolate has avoided this impact, and it’s all down to climate change.”

As well as hitting chocolate producers in the UK, it’s also a hammer blow for cocoa growers, many of whom live on the poverty line in some of the most vulnerable countries in the world. Their livelihoods rely on predictable weather patterns to know when to plant crops. A failed harvest can be the difference between whether they will be able to feed their families.

Christian Aid works with growers in Guatemala to help them diversify their income and adapt to a changing climate.

Amelia, a 24-year-old cocoa grower in Guatemala, told us: “My plantations have been dying due to the lack of water, and in terms of how it’s affecting me, there is no food for my family.”

This is yet another reason why it’s vital for international leaders to cut polluting carbon emissions, roll out clean, renewable energy and deliver support for people on the front line of the climate crisis.

The solutions to ensure a safe and prosperous future exist, but this Valentine’s Day we need to see the political will from our leaders to make it happen.

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Graham Gordon is Head of Global Advocacy at Christian Aid.

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