Wellington students wallpaper their flat with 400 Whittaker's chocolate wrappers. Video / Supplied
Auckland Airport will speak to a retailer about the amount it is charging customers for blocks of chocolate.
Relay stores in the domestic terminals at Christchurch and Auckland airports this week were selling Whittaker’s classic 250g chocolate blocks for $13.99 each.
The same product is listed on the Woolworth’s andNew World online stores at a retail price of $7.69.
The airport convenience chain has a mix-and-match promotion running, which offers two 250g blocks or 180g slab share bags for $20.
Whittaker's classic 250g chocolate blocks are sold at Woolworths for $7.69.
Whittaker’s says that might be the price of convenience.
The Porirua-based confectionery company told the Herald it’s up to individual retailers how they price Whittaker’s chocolate at their own outlets.
“From a consumer perspective, the convenience of being able to pick up a last-minute gift or souvenir to take overseas may be their key consideration.”
The company acknowledged its products may be available for lower prices at other retail outlets nationwide.
An Auckland Airport spokesperson said it’s important travellers have access to “competitive and reasonably priced retail options” and confirmed it would be discussing this pricing with the retailer.
“Convenience stores operate in a different market to supermarkets, with less buying power and limited access to wholesale prices, meaning products can be priced differently. That said, Auckland Airport requires all retailers operating at the airport to offer competitive pricing to customers, and we take this seriously.
“Retailers set the prices, and our expectations feature in all of our retail contracts.”
Relay stores in the domestic terminals of Auckland (pictured left), and Christchurch (pictured right) Airports had Whittaker's chocolate on sale for $13.99 a block.
Global cocoa prices had been driven up by demand surges and adverse weather limiting supplies of cocoa in West Africa. The World Bank’s April 2025 Commodity Markets Outlook predicted that cocoa’s average price would sit at US$8/kg across 2025, up from US$3.28/kg in 2023.
In late 2024, the chocolate company diversified its sources of cocoa to combat some of those challenges and avoid passing on avoidable costs to consumers. Whittaker’s previously sourced only Ghanaian cocoa beans, but began blending in cocoa beans from other 100% Rainforest Alliance-certified and traceable African cocoa bean suppliers.
Auckland Airport also pointed out that retailers at the airport sold chocolate at a range of price points.
“Our new international duty-free operator now has single 250g blocks for $9.20. There are also bundle options available, which bring pricing down.”
Other deals on offer included one at the international airside (after security), where customers could buy three blocks for $25 ($8.33 each) or eight blocks for $62 ($7.75 each).
The Relay chain of airport convenience stores is owned by multinational travel retail operator Lagardere AWPL, which also operates airport stores for Aelia Duty Free, Mac Cosmetics and Allpress Espresso. They currently operate five Relay stores at Auckland Airport.
Lagardere AWPL did not respond to the Herald’s request for comment.
