02:54 PM EDT, 06/13/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Mondelez International ( MDLZ ) is looking to protect chocolate sales volume by keeping prices down despite an increase in input costs due to high cocoa prices, Chief Financial Officer Luca Zaramella said during a virtual conference hosted by Evercore ISI.

"The name of the game for us is particularly in the context where we believe chocolate cost will come down, it is really to go

through a potential temporary dislocation and protect volume and share as much as possible," Zaramella added.

The increase in current cocoa prices is due to "accidental circumstances" with excessive rainfalls hampering production in Ivory Coast and Ghana, and many companies in the chocolate industry "went quite short on their coverage," Zaramella said.

The executive said the company's strategy is to determine where cocoa prices will land to purchase at lower levels.

"My most probable scenario into next year is that costs will come down," he added.

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