Monday, 1 December 2025, 17:53
Rising food prices in Spain are not just affecting consumer wallets. They are also hitting the balance sheets of the supermarkets that sell these products. Moreover, the impact is not just in terms of revenue. The surge in prices for certain products has become a real draw for thieves, especially shoplifters. We’re not talking about large organised gangs here, but rather individuals seeking to steal everyday food items that are no longer affordable for them.
This is what has happened recently with chocolate and other cocoa derivatives. Although the price of this raw material has moderated in recent months thanks to improved harvests and, above all, stagnant demand due to such high prices, a tonne of cocoa still fetches over 5,000 dollars on the American cocoa-trading market.
That figure is undoubtedly much lower than the 12,000 dollars that cocoa exceeded last year. Nevertheless, it remains well above its historical average of around 1,700USD. The high prices have led to unprecedented measures deployed in Spain’s supermarkets, such as the decision to add anti-theft devices (small individual alarms) to chocolate bars.
This was already common practice with other products such as alcoholic beverages and perfumes, even olive oil, but never has it been taken to these extremes over chocolate. The food retail sector has, however, been left with no other choice. According to the fourth study on this type of theft carried out by STC (the Source Tagging Company, part of the Sabadell Group), chocolate bars ranked among the top ten most stolen products in retail chainstores last year. They also saw the greatest increase in the number of thefts across nine Spanish regions, surpassing even coffee, Iberian ham and olive oil.
Experts agree that this phenomenon is closely linked to rising prices and the difficulty of accessing everyday food items. So, with Christmas just around the corner and manufacturers at peak production, thefts are expected to pick up once more.
Turrón, now out of reach for many
It’s not just about chocolates. According to a recent study by Spanish consumer watchdog Facua, the price of our favourite Christmas sweet treats has already increased by an average of 15.4% in the major supermarket chains compared to a year ago. Some of the different types of Spanish nougat (turrón) analysed have seen price increases exceeding 65.3%. The same is true of boxed chocolates, which cost 60% more than just a year ago, rising from 6.85 euros to 10.95 euros in one of the brands checked. Up almost four euros more in just 12 months.
Among those that have maintained their prices it is noticeable that many manufacturers have opted for a price reduction strategy. In other words, the consumer pays the same price, but for less quantity.
Facua also compared price movements in Christmas sweets over the last two years in its latest analysis, which includes both store brands and named brands. In this case, having a sweets selection tray of various nougats, polvorones (Spain’s crumbly, paper-wrapped biscuits) and marzipan on the Christmas table will be 22.6% more expensive than in 2023.