Hershey makes major announcement about future price of its candy: 'We love our chocolate business'

According to CBS News, Hershey recently confirmed that the company will be increasing the price of its chocolate in the near future.

What's happening?

The price of cocoa has skyrocketed in the past several years because of a worldwide cocoa shortage. The shortage is due to the changing climate, which has affected the Ivory Coast and Ghana — where most of the world's cocoa comes from — via heavy rains and overwhelming heat waves. 

This kind of extreme weather has also led to diseases that can wipe out cocoa crops. On top of that, cocoa farms face significant underinvestment. 

The result is that cocoa prices have increased approximately 73% in the past five years and will likely continue to rise if nothing is done about the pollution responsible for extreme weather. 

As a result, Hershey announced a "low double-digit increase" on the price of its chocolate products, including Reese's, Hershey's Kisses, and Kit Kat bars.

Why is the rising cost of cocoa concerning?

Cocoa is in many products, so fewer crops and rising prices mean those products may no longer be made.

Furthermore, since the overheating of our planet is responsible for the price of food increasing, rising costs will continue until the pollution created by human activities, such as utilizing dirty energy, is significantly reduced or stopped. 

With warmer global temperatures comes more extreme weather, as evidenced by the heat waves and heavy rains in Ghana and the Ivory Coast that are wiping out cocoa crops. This extreme weather also contributes to the loss of needed supply routes, making food's transportation journey from the farm to your table exponentially more difficult. 

With less food available because of reduced crops, food prices will increase even more. Additionally, with less food available, more people will go hungry, and food stability across the globe will be affected.

What's being done about Hershey's products?

For now, Hershey's products will see the double-digit increase the company announced, which should take around 90 days to come into effect. 

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Additionally, the company will invest more in its non-chocolate candy and snack products. According to CBS News, the president of The Hershey Company, Michele Buck, stated in a recent earnings call that "we love our chocolate business and we want to continue to grow that. But we also know that if we get into white spaces like sweets, better-for-you, and salty, it adds incremental consumers and occasions."

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