During this coming Eid next week, children may count what they take from the sweets jar as the prices of sweets continue to rise. Affected by sugar prices hitting 28-year high, the price tag for local and imported Eid confectionary and sweets has now become a bit hefty across the Kingdom. But the sweets shops scene is a Ramadan delicacy with shoppers buying sweets for the Eid despite the price increase hovering now close to 30 percent from last year. A confectionary and sweets shop owner in Qunfudah, southwestern coastal city, said the wholesale prices of sweets have increased this year by at least 20 percent for local products and 25-30 percent for imported products. The difference in price has to come out of the customer's pocket, said Ibrahim Al-Bishi, the shop owner. Local toffy sweets prices have increased by at least SR2, said Muhammad Damleek, another sweets shop owner in Qunfuda. “The SR2 may seem little, but it really affects our sales,” he said. International iconic chocolate could hit SR160 per kg this Eid season, he added. The prices of imported sweets have varied from one country to another, with Belgian and Turkish made chocolate and sweets topping the list of the most expensive ones, said Hassan Sheikh, a sweets shop owner. The price increase is associated with production cost worldwide, especially in Belgium, Turkey, Syria, Italy, Lebanon, and Switzerland. Coupled with the current high prices of sugar that is a major key ingredient in making sweets, the price of raw chocolate, at SR8.5 per kg, has also increased the local production of chocolate and sweets prices. During the last few days of Ramadan, the Saudi market turns into a sweets arena for Eid shoppers with chocolate sales reaching SR200 million a week before the Eid starts. The total chocolate sales worldwide are estimated at $41 billion a year.
