In the early days, the chocolates made by Drew Maddison and his wife Karin were crafted at home and sold in farmers’ markets across Melbourne.

Over time, they built up their business and opened a small factory, hiring staff and increasing their sales.

But as the cost of cocoa has skyrocketed globally, the Maddisons have had to let go of workers as their profits have plunged.

“A lot of the businesses out there are just struggling,” Drew said.

“They’re looking at closing up or selling off.

The rising price of cocoa coupled with the cost of transport and manufacturing have left the Maddisons doing everything they can to keep their business going.

Why is cocoa suddenly so expensive?

The price of cocoa has been on something of a rollercoaster this year, due to extreme weather conditions in West Africa, where some of the largest global growers are based.

Between January and April, the stock price of cocoa per tonne nearly tripled. Since late April, it’s dropped back by about a third.

University of Sydney plant pathology expert David Guest said the latest dip in prices was a “liquidity issue,” and he did not expect them to fall significantly. 

“The main reason behind that is not because of any significant change in the outlook, but simply because the price of cocoa beans has reduced demand from chocolate producers,” he said. 

Australian chocolate maker and producer Chris Jahnke said for the most part, consumers were being spared the price rise, as most manufacturers were absorbing the losses.

He said larger manufacturers were able to avoid the worst of the surging cocoa prices.

“They don’t just buy cocoa today and use it tomorrow,” he said.

“The very large players would have stocks of cocoa, that they that would’ve purchased six months, 12 months ago.

“Smaller manufacturers … tend not to do that. So, they are certainly more affected than the bigger players.”

Mr Jahnke said small and medium chocolatiers often made more boutique products with a higher cocoa content, which made it financially “a kind of a double whammy”. 

Drew said he would not consider reducing his cocoa content, as he did not want to risk compromising on taste.

Given the global volatility of the cocoa market, some have been turning their focus to Australian growers.

Could Australian farmers lower chocolate costs?

Laurence Marmara has been growing cocoa for over a decade, after branching out from sugarcane farming in Far North Queensland.

East Trinity Cocoa is Australia’s largest cocoa plantation, with tens of thousands of trees in the rainforests near Cairns. 

“There’s no two ways about it,” Mr Marmara said.

“This is a very good region for growing cocoa.”

It’s not without its challenges — pests and cadmium-potent volcanic soil can cause cocoa cultivators strife — but the pure air and water quality of the region has helped bring Mr Marmara success.

He thinks expanding cocoa production domestically could benefit more growers, chocolate makers and consumers.

For farmers, Mr Marmara said cocoa was more robust than the traditionally widespread sugarcane.

“[Cocoa] trees will last for 100 years … with the cane, we’re planting that cane every four years,” he said.

“When it comes to the state of the economy, the state of inflation, it made a lot of sense for me to grow cocoa simply because of its longevity.”

Mr Marmara doesn’t think a surge in Australian growers will influence the prices of chocolate from the world’s biggest companies, but for local chocolatiers like Drew Maddison, he thinks they could make a difference.

“There’s an opportunity for the cocoa growers here in Australia, in North Queensland, to get their backsides moving and fill in a gap [in the market],” he said.

“While we’ve got these conditions, we can expand, we can make an impact on your chocolate bars now.

However, Mr Marmara warned consumers that a sudden uptake of domestic cocoa farming seemed unlikely and global supply problems would probably persist.

“All you chocolate lovers out there, don’t think that the price of cocoa, or your chocolate bars are going to go down in a hurry because I can’t see an end to this,” he said.

Mr Marmara says East Trinity Cocoa is the largest cocoa plantation in Australia. (ABC News: Brendan Mounter)

Mr Marmara looks after thousands of cocoa trees on the plantation. (ABC News: Brendan Mounter)

Mr Mamara stores the cocoa beans in large tubs for processing. (ABC News: Brendan Mounter)

Laurence weighs the cocoa beans in his processing factory. (ABC News: Brendan Mounter)

Mr Jahnke said although the current domestic cocoa industry was small, Australian cocoa was becoming more financially attractive.

He hopes high international prices will entice more farmers into the industry.

“Once we can get a greater volume of growers, we have more critical mass and that can drive some prices down,” he said.

“We’re certainly hoping that there’ll be some other larger growers here in Australia to take advantage of this potential opportunity.”

Drew Maddison said an expanded cocoa farming industry would be “fantastic.”

“Unfortunately, there’s just not enough grown,” he said.

Mr Maddison said high labour costs and the niche expert knowledge required to grow the trees would make it difficult for farmers to compete on the world stage.

Despite the challenges, he remains optimistic about the future for his family business.

“We feel resilient,” Drew said.