Oh dear! The bill for your dinner date just went up. Blame it on pricey cocoa, coffee, palm oil & sugar

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Bills at quick service and fine-dining restaurants may rise 5-8% starting this month as prices of cocoa, coffee, palm oil and sugar have surged over the past quarter..

This will be the first such increase in about 1.5 years, said industry executives and restaurateurs...

Cocoa prices have risen to a record, touching over $10,000 per tonne, following disappointing harvests in key producing countries such as Ghana and Ivory Coast..

The price increase of cocoa specially is phenomenal, so we have to either increase prices or will be forced to reduce pack sizes, said Jayen Mehta, managing director of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which makes Amul chocolates and flavoured beverages..

Prices of palm oil, also a key ingredient for the hotel, restaurant and caf (HoReCa) segment, have risen 10% in the last three months due to reduced supply from Malaysia and Indonesia..