If you’ve noticed prices soaring on your favourite chocolate at the supermarket, you’re not imagining things. Behind the scenes, cocoa costs have surged to record highs, sending ripples through the entire chocolate supply chain.
Across the globe, the cocoa industry has experienced its sharpest price surge in decades. Whether you’re a bean-to-bar maker or a mid-sized manufacturer, chances are your business is feeling the strain – through unpredictable ingredient costs, delayed shipments, or just the pressure of keeping your pricing sustainable.
This isn’t just another market blip. It’s prompting chocolate producers to rethink how they source, plan, and survive. And Packint’s cocoa butter press might be the solution they’re looking for.
What’s causing the cocoa price surge?
At the heart of the current crisis is a troubling combination of poor harvests, climate volatility, and economic instability in West Africa, where around 70% of the world’s cocoa is grown.
- Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, two of the top producers, have been hit with multiple years of crop-damaging weather – extreme rain, drought, and rising temperatures.
- Diseases like cacao swollen shoot virus have spread rapidly, reducing yields and prompting mass replanting.
- Corruption and economic hardship have left many farmers without the resources to maintain or harvest their crops effectively.
All of this has pushed cocoa prices to record highs – from around $4,000(AUD) per tonne in early 2023 to over $18,000(AUD) per tonne in 2024.
And cocoa butter? Even worse. In Australia, producers report prices soaring to $50 per kilo, up from just $15 not long ago.
The impact on chocolate makers
The ripple effects for producers are immediate and far-reaching.
- Manufacturers reliant on bulk chocolate are paying significantly more – or struggling to get their hands on supply altogether.
- Product sizes are shrinking. Recipes are being reformulated. And in many cases, retail prices are climbing.
- Smaller makers, who rely on stable access to ingredients like cocoa butter, are particularly vulnerable.
- Some suppliers are cancelling contracted deliveries in favour of better-paying offers, leaving buyers stranded.
For bean-to-bar producers – who already roast, grind and conch their own beans – the squeeze is real. Most of these businesses still buy cocoa butter externally to achieve the right texture and finish in their bars. But with supply inconsistent and prices volatile, many are rethinking that step.
One thing is clear: the days of predictable pricing and easy ordering are over.
Why more makers are pressing in-house
When ingredient prices climb, the instinct is to find cheaper sources. But when those cheaper sources don’t exist, or when suppliers are running low – or unexpectedly selling their stock to the highest bidder – that’s no longer enough.
For some chocolate makers, the answer lies in taking control of production inputs, starting with cocoa butter.
If you can press your own cocoa butter from the same beans you’re already using, you cut out the risk of volatile prices, supplier delays, and make a consistent product entirely in-house. Plus, you’ll have a single-origin chocolate bar – a big selling point!
How cocoa butter presses work
After cocoa beans are roasted, winnowed, and ground, they become a thick, rich paste known as cocoa mass (or chocolate liquor). A cocoa butter press takes that mass and extracts its fat content – cocoa butter – through high-pressure mechanical force.
The process goes like this:
- Loading the press
The cocoa mass is placed into a cloth or hessian sack and loaded into the press chamber. - Applying pressure
The machine applies intense hydraulic pressure to the bag. This pressure forces the cocoa butter out of the mass and through tiny perforations in the chamber walls. - Butter collection
The butter is collected as it flows out, ready to be filtered and used in chocolate recipes. - What’s left behind
The leftover pressed cocoa, called cocoa cake, is dense and dry. It can be ground into cocoa powder – a hidden bonus if you’re wanting to add cocoa powder to your product line.
Yes, you’ll still need to buy cocoa beans, but pressing your own butter means avoiding the steep premiums on pre-processed cocoa butter. You gain more control over your margins, reduce reliance on fluctuating supplier costs, and produce a more traceable, transparent product.
Where the Packint cocoa butter press comes in
The Packint cocoa butter press is designed for small to mid-scale chocolate makers. It processes around 20kg of cocoa mass at a time and yields roughly 6–8kg of butter per cycle. Unlike large-scale industrial presses (which can cost over a million euros), it’s accessible for bean-to-bar producers who want more independence in their process.
The appeal? You’re no longer waiting on external shipments. You’re not gambling on market prices. You know exactly where your butter comes from, and you’ve got the machinery in place to make more when you need it.
Take a closer look at the Packint Cocoa Butter Press here.
Deniz and Kylie Karaca, founders of Cuvée Chocolate – photo from Cuvée website
Cuvée Chocolate: how the cocoa butter press gives back control
Artisan Industrial has seen a noticeable increase in enquiries for cocoa butter presses in the last few months. And the reason isn’t always cost.
Some chocolate makers are simply looking for a way to keep production going without relying on erratic suppliers. Others want to enhance their story by offering single-origin butter made from the same beans they use to make their chocolate.
Melbourne-based bean-to-bar chocolate maker Cuvée Chocolate is one such business. Known for their bold flavours and craft-first approach, they’ve already adopted the Packint cocoa butter press to gain more control over their products and process.
Deniz Karaca, chocolate maker and owner of Cuvée, says, ‘Having the Packint cocoa butter press has enabled our business to have a real point of difference in the Australian market, being currently the only domestic craft producer to make both white chocolate and cocoa powder from the bean to the finished product. It’s a difference many of our customers, especially in the food service market, have come to appreciate and value!
Cuvée’s experience reflects a growing trend: chocolate makers are turning to cocoa butter presses to sidestep supplier issues and stay in control of production.
Is it right for you?
It won’t suit large-scale industrial production. But for the majority of bean-to-bar producers, introducing a cocoa butter press is the next natural step to reduce risk in an unpredictable market. Want to understand if a cocoa butter press makes sense for your setup? Talk to the team at Artisan Industrial. Our team of industry-experienced professionals can talk you through the pros and cons of introducing a cocoa butter press or other machines to your process. No pressure – just practical advice that can help you weather the storm of cocoa price surges.
