Price of chocolate 'to triple' Cocoa butter is the main culprit, particular for milk chocolate where it accounts for around 25 per cent of the production costs, said analysts Mintec. Prices of cocoa butter are currently at a four year high of £4,000 a tonne, a 70 per cent increase on this time last year. Bad weather and increased demand hit the cocoa bean crop in the key growing region of the Ivory Coast leading to a lower supply and a poor forecast for the coming 2013/14 crop. Upmarket maker Thorntons, for instance, has put prices up by an average 11.5 per cent in the last 12 months, said The Grocer. But in contrast, the price of a box of Celebrations is currently the same as this time last year and a box of Roses is only 1.3 per cent higher. Mintec analyst Liliana Gonzalez said: "Rising cocoa butter prices and inflation on other key ingredients have taken their toll on chocolate manufactuers. This works out as a 21p cost increase on the average 100g bar of milk chocolate.