If you’ve gone looking for Hershey cocoa powder lately maybe for brownies or a mug of hot chocolate you might have noticed the shelves are sparse, if not totally bare. Stores across the country are having trouble keeping the iconic brown containers in stock. People are frustrated, baking plans are on pause, and even store employees are a little stumped.
So what’s behind this unusual shortage of Hershey cocoa powder, and is there any relief in sight? Here’s everything you actually need to know.
What’s Driving the Hershey Cocoa Powder Shortage?
There isn’t just one reason you’re having a tough time finding cocoa powder. Instead, it’s a storm of issues that all came together at pretty much the worst possible time, and the effects keep piling up.
The main culprit is a massive disruption in the global cocoa supply that began bit by bit in 2023 and has only gotten worse into 2025. Extreme weather and disease have hit cocoa farmers hard, especially those in West Africa. And since countries like Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana produce over 60% of the world’s cocoa, problems there go global, fast.
Add to that a spike in demand from chocolate lovers in the US and beyond, plus a load of trouble in the commodity markets, and you’ve got the main ingredients for this shortage.
Extreme Weather and Devastating Crop Disease
If you follow agriculture news (or have a friend who does), you might already know that the cocoa crop is pretty sensitive. Recently, it’s taken hit after hit. West Africa, home to most of the world’s cocoa farms, saw back-to-back dry spells and some brutal heatwaves in 2023 and 2024.
Farmers couldn’t get enough rain during key growing periods. Some even lost entire fields, and the cocoa trees that did survive suffered from weak, thin beans.
On top of that, there’s the less-well-known but nasty cocoa swollen shoot virus. It sounds technical, but the bottom line is that this disease spreads from tree to tree, cutting yields and sometimes killing trees entirely. It’s a slow-moving disaster. Once a region gets hit, it can take years for the trees to recover, even after the weather improves.
Both factors have slashed West Africa’s cocoa harvest for multiple years in a row. And when there’s less cocoa worldwide, companies like Hershey end up scrambling for whatever’s left.
Market Volatility: When Prices Swing Wildly
You’d think if farmers are producing less cocoa, prices for raw beans would go up everywhere, and that’s exactly what happened. The global cocoa market got jittery, and prices shot through the roof. In early 2025, cocoa traded for more than four times what it cost in 2023, which is unheard of for this market.
Yet, interestingly, farmers in producing countries didn’t always benefit. Due to local rules and long-term supply contracts, many growers actually sold their cocoa before the big price run-up, so benefits never really reached those on the ground. Meanwhile, chocolate and cocoa powder makers like Hershey had to pay way more and often just had to wait, anxiously, for beans to even be available.
These market swings make it tough for companies to plan, and retailers find themselves unsure of when, or even if, their next shipments will arrive.
Why Cocoa Demand Keeps Growing
Let’s be honest hardly anyone is cutting back on chocolate. Over the last few years, demand for cocoa-based treats has only gone up. Actually, global demand grew in both established chocolate-loving countries (yes, that’s the US and UK) and places where more people are just getting into baking and desserts.
Every holiday season or TikTok baking trend causes a new run on cocoa powder shelves. But with less cocoa available in the world, the math just doesn’t work: higher demand and lower supply send prices and shortages into overdrive.
How the Shortage Hits Hershey and Shoppers Like Us
If you’re in the US, you’ve probably seen the gap where Hershey cocoa powder should be in the baking aisle. This isn’t just in big cities small-town stores and suburban markets in places like New York’s Hudson Valley and the Midwest all report the same struggle. Some stores get a shipment, and the whole lot disappears before the week’s done.
Hershey hasn’t dodged the issue either. They openly admitted it’ll be “a long way” before things return to normal for their cocoa powder. That’s pretty unusual for a company this size, which typically keeps its core baking products widely available year-round.
Even bakers and dessert-makers who usually treat Hershey cocoa powder as their go-to are having to make tough choices. Some are trying alternative brands, while others are just waiting the shortage out, hoping supplies will stabilize before the holidays.
What Hershey Is Doing About the Crisis
When you’re a giant in the chocolate world, you can’t just opt out of a supply crisis, but you do have a few tricks up your sleeve. Hershey made some tough moves.
For one, prices have gone up on cocoa powder sometimes by a shocking amount. People are noticing that their usual tin costs way more than even a year ago. Beyond that, if you do find Hershey cocoa, the quantity per container might be just a bit less than before. This “shrinkflation” isn’t unique to Hershey, but it’s now part of how the company is managing short supply.
Hershey is also reportedly looking at recipe changes. Sometimes this means tweaking the cocoa content so they can stretch limited supplies further, or switching up the type of packaging to get products out quicker.
None of these changes thrill loyal customers, but the company says it’s what they have to do if they want to keep some cocoa powder on the shelves at all.
Money Talks: Hershey’s Financial Outlook
The situation has gotten serious enough that Hershey updated its guidance for Wall Street, saying, in effect, they’re not expecting 2025 to be a banner year. With less cocoa to work with and higher prices to pay, profits are under pressure.
When even a brand this large says things will stay tough for a while, you know the supply problems are real. Hershey isn’t alone rival chocolate makers have also warned investors of weaker numbers, cutbacks, and temporary changes to recipes or product lines.
If anything, these financial updates confirm this shortage isn’t just a blip. The effects are lasting longer than anyone hoped.
Are Things Getting Any Better? The Outlook for 2025 and Beyond
So is there any good news? Maybe. Industry watchers, including the World Bank, are starting to see some signs that cocoa production could rebound by late 2025. The prediction is that if weather in West Africa finally turns favorable, farmers might get a heavy crop later this year.
If that happens, cocoa prices should drop back from their record highs. Consumers and companies alike would breathe a sigh of relief, and store shelves would fill up again with Hershey cocoa powder.
But that “if” is a big one. The same cocoa regions are still vulnerable to another round of heat, drought, or disease. Plus, even when the harvest bounces back, it will take months for the cocoa to work its way from farms to factories, then finally into the containers you see at the grocery store.
What Hershey Is Doing for the Long Term
To avoid another wild shortage in the future, Hershey is investing in its supply chain. This includes funding better tools for cocoa farmers, experimenting with crop disease resistance, and diversifying where they buy cocoa beans.
There’s also talk of Hershey working with partners to build more resilience spreading out sources so that problems in one region don’t shut down the whole supply. For most consumers, these changes won’t be obvious, but the hope is that over the next year or two, the Hershey cocoa powder shortage won’t be a recurring problem.
Meanwhile, baking enthusiasts might have to settle for other brands or recipes, at least until the supply situation really normalizes. You can keep an eye on news sources like Daily Business View to catch any updates about when things really start turning around.
Bottom Line
So, Hershey cocoa powder is tough to find because the cocoa bean supply chain has had a rough ride for nearly two years. Weather, crop disease, and fast-moving changes in demand and prices have left even big brands like Hershey searching for enough beans.
While there’s hope for a stronger harvest later in 2025, it’ll likely take time before prices settle and store shelves always have what you want. Hershey is working hard to steady its supply, but in the near future, shortages might come and go.
The best new info is that the worst could be behind us if the weather finally cooperates and West African farms bounce back. In the meantime, if your local store has Hershey cocoa powder in stock, maybe grab an extra the next shipment could still be a while.
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