Chocolate makers are feeling the pinch as the cost of ingredients keeps going up.Bad weather and lack of investment in cocoa farms in West Africa have caused lower harvests of cocoa beans.Over the past year, the price of cocoa has shot up four times higher, making it tough for small businesses, especially as Christmas approaches.

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Head chocolatier at Zara's Chocolates in Bristol, Helen Jones, said: "Our profit margins are small, and people think we're making lots of money but that isn't the case."Christmas is the busiest time of the year for the company, which makes about 18,000 truffles over two weeks.As a chocolatier, Zara's sources chocolate in its pre-tempered form from a supplier.Ms Jones said: "Our core ingredients have increased [in price] a lot.

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"Some things by 25%, some up to 200% increases in the chocolate that we buy in."The business tried to absorb the cost in order not to pass the price increases onto customers, but Ms Jones said that this "became impossible"."Many of the problems affecting our chocolate were happening a year ago, and the effects are still being felt," she said.

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"We put a little note in the shop to explain why the prices were increasing, and thankfully people were really good about it."Cocoa trees, which only grow in a narrow band around the Equator, are particularly vulnerable to changes in the climate.

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Severe drought conditions have hit the West Africa region this year, with temperatures above 40C breaking records in the Ivory Coast and Ghana, which are the world's two biggest producers of cocoa beans.In December 2023, both countries also experienced intense rains, and the wet and humid conditions allowed a fungal infection called black pod disease to flourish, rotting cocoa beans on the trees.

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The combination of extreme weather patterns has meant the price of the cocoa bean crop has shot up in recent months.Head chocolate maker at Coco Caravan in Stroud, Jacques Cöp, said the price of cacao butter had risen from 4.5$/kg to 12.5$/kg, meaning it had to stop manufacturing some lines as it could not justify the cost.

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"We can absorb some of the costs by changing our product lines, but we're just having to take it on the chin," Mr Cöp said.For Ms Jones, she predicts the price of the chocolate she buys will hit a plateau in January and she is hoping it will fall again after that.

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