Summary: New weekly Vesper Price Indices (VPIs) for cocoa powder, cocoa butter and cocoa mass in Europe and the US, with history and a view 12 months forward.
Vesper now publishes prices for the cocoa products you buy: cocoa powder, cocoa butter and cocoa mass, in Europe and the US. They are new Vesper Price Indices (VPIs). The powder prices are reported by buyers and sellers at major global chocolate companies; the butter and mass ratios are collected by Vesper from buyers and sellers in the market. We update them every Friday.
Most chocolate and biscuit makers buy chocolate, or the powder, butter and mass it’s made from, not beans. Yet bean futures remain the benchmark they’re told to watch. So how do you know if a cocoa butter quote is competitive?
How butter and mass are quoted
The trade quotes cocoa butter and cocoa mass as a ratio to the cocoa bean futures price for the matching delivery period, and the new VPIs follow that. The price itself is the ratio multiplied by the futures price.
Say cocoa butter for Q2 delivery is offered at a ratio of 1.60. Whether that is a good price depends on where the market ratio for Q2 sits, and that is the number the VPI gives you.
Cocoa powder is different. It is quoted as an outright price, in EUR/mt in Europe and USD/mt in the US, and trades more like other food ingredients.
What’s new
- Europe: ratios for cocoa butter and cocoa mass, and prices for cocoa powder natural and alkalised, spot and forward, in EUR/mt. History from March 2026.
- US: ratios for cocoa butter and cocoa mass, and prices for cocoa powder natural, alkalised and black, spot and forward, in USD/mt. History from June 2026.
- 20 new cocoa VPIs: 6 forward ratios for butter and mass, and 14 cocoa powder prices (7 spot, 7 forward).
- Updated weekly, every Friday, with a view 12 months forward.
Why this matters
Bean futures set the tone in cocoa, but most bakery and confectionery companies buy butter, mass and powder. These VPIs give you a weekly reference for those products, and the US prices fill a gap for US bakeries.
How to use it
- Check a powder, butter or mass quote against an independent benchmark before you reply.
- See where the ratios sit for the next 12 months, then decide how far forward to cover.
- Build next year’s budget on forward prices for the products you buy.
- Bring the new prices into your Cost Models and model your chocolate bar, your cookie, or any other product that includes cocoa.
Where to find them
- Cocoa ratios table: the ratios and the powder prices side by side, the way the trade reports them.
- Forward prices: the forward ratios and powder prices, in the positions view and the table view.
- Prices and Price comparison: the spot cocoa powder VPIs.
Questions about which of these are in your plan? Contact your Customer Success Manager or support@vespertool.com.
Join the monthly webinar
Sugar & Cocoa webinar · every month
First episode: Tuesday 20 October 2026, 16:30 Amsterdam
Justine Rayne White, Vesper's Cocoa & Chocolate Analyst, walks through the new cocoa VPIs. 30 minutes, live Q&A, and everyone who signs up gets the replay.
Sign up for the webinar
