BILL. THANKS. WE’RE LIVING THROUGH A BIT OF A COCO SLUMP RIGHT NOW BECAUSE OF DROUGHT IN THE REGIONS. IT GROWS IN MEANING PRICES OF THE CHOCOLATE. SOME OF YOU ENJOY ARE RISING IN COSTS. WE WENT TO BAKERS CANDIES, A LONGTIME STAPLE IN GREENWOOD, NEBRASKA, TO HEAR HOW THEY’RE FARING. KETV NEWSWATCH SEVEN’S JOHN GRUNWALD HAS THAT STORY. BAKERS CHOCOLATES FOLLOW A LONG ROAD MELTED DOWN AND MIXED WITH COCOA BUTTER, SLIDING ACROSS A CONVEYOR BELT, CHOPPED APART AND NESTLED INTO THE COLORED WRAPPERS FAMILIAR TO MANY OF US. BUT THE JOURNEY REALLY BEGINS NEAR THE EQUATOR. IT’S A VERY NARROW, GROWING REGION FOR THE COCOA BEAN. THE MAJORITY OF THAT GROWING REGION IS ACTUALLY JUST OCEAN. TODD BAKER, A SECOND GENERATION OWNER OPERATOR, SAYS PREVIOUS HARVESTS PUT THE INDUSTRY IN A BIND. THE COCOA BEAN IS VERY SUSCEPTIBLE TO CHANGE IN WEATHER AND WITH CLIMATE CHANGE BEING WHAT IT IS TODAY, WHETHER YOU BELIEVE IN IT OR NOT, IT’S CERTAINLY HAVING AN EFFECT ON WHAT COCOA PLANTATIONS ARE ABLE TO PRODUCE. THE COCOA COMMODITY HAS QUADRUPLED IN PRICE OVER THE LAST 18 MONTHS. IT MEANS THAT WE HAVE TO START PASSING ALONG THOSE COSTS, OR WE HAVE TO START FINDING WAYS, PARDON THE PUN, TO EAT IT. LEADING TO A 20% UPTICK FOR PRICES AT BAKER’S A FEW MONTHS AGO, AND HIKES ON CHOCOLATE ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY. ON TOP OF THAT, WORRIES OVER TARIFFS. 100% OF U.S. COCOA IS IMPORTED. BAKER SAYS THROUGH ALL THIS, HIS TEAM IS COMMITTED TO MAINTAINING THE QUALITY OF THEIR PRODUCT. SO WHILE THE PRICES AREN’T AS SWEET AS THE CANDY, THE OWNERS TELL ME THEY’RE JUST HOPING TO GET THROUGH THIS YEAR, HOPING FOR BETTER TIMES NEXT YEAR.
Nationwide cocoa shortage impacting chocolate prices
Baker's Candies faces down slump in cocoa supply
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Updated: 5:17 AM CDT Jul 5, 2025
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Baker's Candies brand chocolates follow a long road. In the Greenwood facility that churns them out, they're melted down, mixed with cocoa butter, slid across a conveyor belt and then nestled into the colored wrappers familiar to many.But the road really begins near the equator."It's a very narrow growing region for the cocoa bean," Todd Baker, a second-generation owner-operator, said. "The majority of that growing region is actually just ocean."Baker said the previous harvest put the industry in a bind."The cocoa bean is very susceptible to change in weather, and with climate change being what it is today, whether you believe it or not, it's certainly having an effect on what cocoa plantations are able to produce," Baker said.The price of the cocoa commodity has quadrupled over the last 18 months."It means that we have to start passing along those costs or we have to start finding ways, pardon the pun, to eat it," Baker said.At Baker's, that's meant a 20% uptick in the last few months. On top of that, Baker said worries over tariffs are also sparking unease in the market."Cocoa isn't exempt from issues affecting manufacturers and tariffs because we don't grow any cocoa domestically," Baker said. "It means 100% of U.S. cocoa is imported and all imported commodities are facing tariffs, frankly, at different levels."Baker said he's hoping the hike is temporary while the business gets through the cocoa slump.
GREENWOOD, Neb. — Baker's Candies brand chocolates follow a long road. In the Greenwood facility that churns them out, they're melted down, mixed with cocoa butter, slid across a conveyor belt and then nestled into the colored wrappers familiar to many.
But the road really begins near the equator.
"It's a very narrow growing region for the cocoa bean," Todd Baker, a second-generation owner-operator, said. "The majority of that growing region is actually just ocean."
Baker said the previous harvest put the industry in a bind.
"The cocoa bean is very susceptible to change in weather, and with climate change being what it is today, whether you believe it or not, it's certainly having an effect on what cocoa plantations are able to produce," Baker said.
The price of the cocoa commodity has quadrupled over the last 18 months.
"It means that we have to start passing along those costs or we have to start finding ways, pardon the pun, to eat it," Baker said.
At Baker's, that's meant a 20% uptick in the last few months. On top of that, Baker said worries over tariffs are also sparking unease in the market.
"Cocoa isn't exempt from issues affecting manufacturers and tariffs because we don't grow any cocoa domestically," Baker said. "It means 100% of U.S. cocoa is imported and all imported commodities are facing tariffs, frankly, at different levels."
Baker said he's hoping the hike is temporary while the business gets through the cocoa slump.
