NORTH TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WKBW) — With Easter just 10 days away, I had the tough job Thursday of visiting local chocolate makers to see how much your holiday shopping might cost.
According to the latest Consumer Price Index report, the price for candy is up 11% over the last year. However, chocolate shops in Western New York say their budgets are feeling some relief this year.
In 2025, cocoa prices experienced unprecedented increases, driving costs up 65% for chocolate makers in Western New York.
Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED) shows the price of cocoa has increased tremendously since 2020. Between 2020 and 2022, prices were relatively stable, hovering around $2,000 to $2,500 per metric ton. Prices began rising noticeably in 2023 and surged to over $7,300 per metric ton in 2024. In 2025, prices peaked at about $8,000 per metric ton, with some peaks exceeding $9,000. Now, the current and projected price for 2026 is approximately $7,000 to $7,500 per metric ton, lower than it was in 2025.
Whitney Watson Beecher is the president and owner of Watson's Candies, Inc., Western New York's 80-year-old chocolate company. She said prices this Easter season will be the same as last year or lower.
"What we've seen in the first part of 2026 is that cocoa prices have started to come down again, which is a big relief to all of us," Beecher said.
"Chocolate bunnies always, people love to see what new molds we might have, and they're always looking around for stuff, but the bunny still reigns supreme, and we've got them from 3 inches to 3 ft and then also sponge candy doesn't matter what holiday, what time of year, sponge candy is always huge," Beecher said.
For chocolate makers like Platter's Chocolate Factory in North Tonawanda, Easter is the busiest time of year, followed by Christmas and Valentine's Day. I got caught in the middle of the chocolate craze during my visit. Platter's has served Western New York for 88 years. President and owner Joe Urban said the store's classics are out in full force the next few weeks.
"This season we did not raise prices over last Easter, so the pricing is there's not going to be sticker shock. That would have happened last year for us and the way things look, we don't see that coming down the road either because the market has softened up a little bit, so our prices are going to be fairly stable," Urban said.
"We sell a 12-ounce box of what's called Easter flats, and they're little bite-sized pieces of Easter figurines. That far and away is the, is the most, and we, in orange chocolate is what we sell the most of, and then milk chocolate," Urban said.
Over in Williamsville, serving WNY for 41 years, is Sweet Jenny's Chocolates & Ice Cream. Owner Howard Cadmus said they have a different philosophy so customers will not be burdened by cocoa price increases.
"We have a Good Neighbors Fund. If someone can't afford stuff, we'll help them out. We just give it to them during the holidays we donate. As long as we're still able to live our lives and provide for our sons and pay our 26, 27 employees, then really we're doing what I think we're supposed to be doing, and I don't always want to pass that cost on to the customers," Cadmus said.
"Smashed eggs were big. We still do really well with those. We make our own Dubai where we're shredding and toasting the phyllo dough and making the coffee, so we do well with our Dubai eggs and our Dubai bars. We have what I affectionately call geek chocolates, which is Star Wars and Kirby and Pokemon and stuff like that. So we do Bluey. We do really well with those," Cadmus said.
