Black Friday and the true value of Craft Chocolate
This week is a heartfelt appeal for you to consider Craft Chocolate amongst your purchases this coming Black Friday weekend. And if you, along with 85% of other British households (and 75% of US households) are also planning to put up your Christmas tree, please remember to place some craft chocolate bars underneath it as soon as possible (and we’ll cover the history of Christmas Trees, Paradise Trees, Queen Victoria, Yuletide Logs in another blog soon).
We’d really appreciate your support this Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend – even though we’re not offering “the deal of the millenium”, “buy one and get five free”, etc. Craft chocolate offers amazing value. When you purchase a craft chocolate bar, in most cases the price will be £5-9, and you will receive literally the best bar money can buy. If you wanted the same quality in say wine or whisky, you’d need to add at least one zero if not two zeros (ie £50-£500), and even for specialty coffee, tea or cheese, you’ll have to spend two to four times more. And, both chocolate makers and cocoa farmers directly benefit from the support your purchases provide.
There’s no avoiding it; craft chocolate is more expensive than mass market chocolate. There are two primary reasons why they are more expensive. The first is the way craft chocolate is made. The second is that cocoa farmers are paid far more, and with long term transparent contracts, than is paid for commodity cocoa beans. And craft chocolate’s commitment to transparency to both you, the customer, and the farmers they partner with also also explains why you won’t see as much discounting or ‘bargains’ as you will from Big Chocolate. For more on this, please see the blog. But the bottom line is:
Why it’s more expensive to make craft chocolate
Craft chocolate is all about flavour; and this means crafting in small batches – and not using lots of sugar and additives. This means that it’s hard to get the same economies of scale as achieved by Big Chocolate who are all about consistency of taste at the lowest possible cost (there’s a reason you’ll find vanilla or vanillin, lecithins, PGPR and multiple other additives in many mass produced bars). Craft chocolate makers also avoid using the cheap additives, sugar and alternative fats that Big Chocolate uses to drive down costs. And overall, small batch manufacturing also makes it hard for craft chocolate to manage the onerous terms demanded by supermarkets. Bluntly, they don’t have the cashflow or margins to afford the deep discounts, extended payment terms, listing fees etc. that underpin these channels.
Why the beans in a craft chocolate bar are more expensive
But the main reason for the greater cost is because craft chocolate is made from great beans, and this means paying cocoa farmers far higher prices via transparent, long term contracts. The real “costs” here aren’t as simple as low cocoa prices. Mass produced cocoa relies on being able to pay West African cocoa farmers a pittance (estimates vary from $0.80 to $1.30, when the World Bank estimates that they need at least $2.50 – $3.00 per day as a basic needs threshold). Consequently there is no incentive, and no capital, for many (most?) West African cocoa farmers to invest in planting new trees, irrigation – or to attract new younger farmers. This, along with El Nino and supply chain challenges, is one of the reasons why cocoa prices spiked last year so dramatically to $12,000 a tonne, before falling back to around $4,000. Some of this price rise has trickled down to cocoa farmers (but not that much – see here). And it may well be that commodity cocoa prices go up again next year if we have another bad harvest. But this level of uncertainty isn’t leading to smallholder farmers being willing to plant more cocoa trees, nor is it encouraging more young people to become cocoa farmers (especially given the vastly higher rewards from alternatives like illegal gold mining in e.g. Ghana).
Some good news
On a more positive note, craft chocolate makers are still committing to long term contracts and at a level that encourages the farmers to invest in the future. And in some ways the increase in commodity cocoa prices has helped craft chocolate makers. It forced supermarket brands, especially of “dark” chocolate (e.g. Lindt, Green and Black, supermarket own labels) to increase their prices from e.g. £1.95 to £3.45 or £3.95. Craft chocolate bars have also increased – from £3.95-£5.95 to £4.95- £7.95. Optically this makes purchasing a craft chocolate bar still £2-3 more.. but not two to three times as much, like the supermarket prices. However bean supply has been far more problematic. And cashflow, the lifeblood of small businesses, is far more complicated and tricky. So even though craft chocolate makers are happy to see all cocoa farmers being paid more, this has come at considerable pain. And ultimately, if the craft makers can’t keep afloat, the farmers will also lose their income.
A selling philosophy
We all love bargains. Nobody likes to be taken for a ride and pay more. So I have a list of “stuff” that I plan to purchase this Black Friday as I know that for various brands, Black Friday/Cyber Monday is the way to go. And this works well for various brands and retailers. So go for it!
But it doesn’t sit well with the transparency and long term commitments that underpin craft chocolate. We believe that craft chocolate is already great value, and we don’t want to have to try and “squeeze” the margins of makers (and farmers). And we also want to build a long term relationship of trust with all our customers, and be as transparent as we can about prices and the real costs to farmers, the environment and everyone’s health.
So please excuse us for not trying to tempt you with special Black Friday “deals”. We think that price promotions, discounting, etc. sends the wrong signal, and disrespects the hard working cocoa farmers and craft chocolate makers. And it’s the opposite of transparent, long term commitments. It undermines support and trust built with farmers, makers and customers.
Thanks as ever for your support and If you’re able to support craft chocolate this weekend, it really does make a difference – to the farmers, to the makers, and to us.
Sources
Fairtrade International (2025). Cocoa Household Income Study: Côte d’Ivoire.
https://www.fairtrade.net/content/dam/fairtrade/fairtrade-international/library/2025/cocoa-household-income/Cocoa%20household%20income%20study%202025.pdf
Fairtrade International (2024). Living Income Reference Prices for Cocoa.
https://www.fairtrade.net/content/dam/fairtrade/global/why-we-do-it/living-income/living-income-reference-prices/Fairtrade-Living-Income-Reference-Price-for-Cocoa_Update-2024.pdf
Climate Focus & World Bank (2020). Supporting Smallholder Farmers for a Sustainable Cocoa Sector.
https://climatefocus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Supporting-Smallholder-Farmers-for-a-Sustainable-Cocoa-Sector-June-2020.pdf
Wageningen Economic Research / World Cocoa Foundation (2024). Cocoa Household Income Study Approach.
https://worldcocoafoundation.org/storage/files/2024-cocoa-household-income-study-approach-wur-english.pdf
Impact Institute / Fairtrade (2021). Household Income of Cocoa Farmers in Côte d’Ivoire: Strategies for Improvement.
https://www.fairtrade.net/content/dam/fairtrade/fairtrade-international/library/2021/cocoa-farmer-income–the-household-income-of-fairtrade-cocoa-farmers-in-c%C3%B4te-d%E2%80%99ivoire-and-strategies-for-improvement/Fairtrade-CDI-cocoa-household-income-study-July-2021.pdf
SWISSCO – Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa (2024). Issue Brief: Price – A Key Factor for a Living Income.
https://www.kakaoplattform.ch/fileadmin/redaktion/Dokumente_SWISSCO/Studien_Themenseiten/Issue_Brief_Price_Final_EN3.pdf
VOICE Network / Cocoa Barometer (2025). Good Governance for Living Income in Cocoa.
https://voicenetwork.cc/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/EN-Good-Governance-for-Living-Income-in-Cocoa-2025-v3.pdf
