Baking is a little more expensive these days

If one were to act-out Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” it’d be rather expensive atm. According to data from Smart Cube, the price of sugar globally has increased 42% since June 2022 – or enough to make a person sing “I don’t want candy.”

🤔 What’s behind the price increase?... Song-related jokes aside, three words you’re probably tired of reading by now: supply and demand.

• Reduced supply: Bad weather resulted in low harvests for some of the world’s biggest producers. This year’s dry season is expected to be exacerbated by El Niño, which could result in a 10%–15% reduction in global sugarcane yield.
• Strong demand: Barron’s reports the demand for sugar is likely to outstrip production by six million to seven million metric tons over the next three years.

🍬📉 Looking ahead… The Great Halloween Candy Shortage that rarely comes to be could actually materialize this year. According to the WSJ, tight sugar supplies are pushing up candy companies’ costs and cutting into the production of sweets.