In an attempt to raise money for selective meets, called invitationals, North Hollywood High School’s Track and Field team is selling boxes of chocolates to students on campus. This practice has long been a popular way to finance the needs of many NHHS sports teams, but this year’s increase in price has made it much more difficult.
World’s Finest Chocolate, the company that manufactures these sweets, made the decision to discontinue the $1 chocolate box as of December 2025, retiring a 76-year-long price standard.
The impetus for this decision was the 400% increase in cocoa prices due to climate-driven disruptions in West Africa, where a majority of the world’s cocoa is produced. However, it has made it much more challenging for track members to appeal to customers.
“I really struggled to sell chocolates this year because there is chocolate-flation,” said track star Ava Andonian. “The prices rose from $1 to $2 and these kids really don’t like that.” In order to get to their price goal, the track team needs to sell 50 or more boxes of chocolates.
“We need that money to cover equipment like spikes and also for invitationals,” said Coach Rebulard. “For some invitational costs, like for the group ones sent to me, the price is like in the hundreds. And we’re only allotted a very meager budget per year. So the chocolate sales typically help the coaches pay for these invitationals so that athletes get to compete for free.”
Last year, fundraiser money went towards the runway for the long jump, but this year it’s just for invitationals. As for the increase in price, Coach Rebulard doesn’t think it has had a significant impact on sales. “I feel like kids will buy chocolate regardless of the price. If they up it to like, $3, that might be difficult,” she said. “I think the only thing is that this year we were more cautious in terms of the number of boxes that we asked for so there wouldn’t be excess.” For some students, however, the increase in price was very noticeable.
“Last year, I would buy chocolates literally all the time, because I always had a dollar lying around in my wallet, or my phone case, or my backpack,” said Prahi Shah, a frequent chocolate customer. “It’s also much easier to borrow a dollar than to ask to borrow two dollars. So when my friends started selling chocolates for two dollars this year, I was like ‘It’s the same size, it’s the exact same thing, and they’ve doubled the price.’” Although seemingly identical, there is a subtle increase in the size of the chocolate bars, from 1.1 oz to 1.3 oz.
Another difference between the two is that the $2 box has new flavors, such as Dark Chocolate Pretzel, and also fewer bars (40 instead of 60). World’s Finest Chocolate states that a box of $2 bars can generate double the profit of a $1 box even with fewer bars inside, arguing selling higher-priced bars allows organizations to reach their goals with fewer transactions.
This strategy held true for the North Hollywood Track and Field team. Despite the initial hurdle of price inflation, the team met its fundraising goal within just a few weeks. That perseverance translated from campus hallways to the track; on May 7th, the Huskies secured the League Championship for the second consecutive year, proving that the team can find success both in navigating market spikes and crossing the finish line.
