With the beginning of Easter, chocolate fans have been eagerly anticipating enjoying the sugary delight.
Julianna Tan, who is a chocolatier and owner of Those Girls at the Market in Saskatoon, found it difficult to keep up with demand leading up to the long weekend.
“We pretty much sold out of our pre-orders, so I’m kind of at my capacity,” Tan said. “This year went very well.”
While her chocolate business is doing well, she is worried about the rising prices.
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Gates Guarin / Global News
According to a February report by agriculture-focused co-operative bank CoBank, cocoa prices were almost 65 percent higher than a year ago, and New York futures prices were at a 46-year high.
The increase is due to several reasons, including plant disease in Africa, and heavy rains causing problems with the supply chain.
“The confection business is going to bear the brunt of the margin impact due to cocoa,” Hershey chief financial officer Steven Voskuil told analysts in February.
Tan mentioned that running a business is always a roller coaster with constant challenges, and this situation makes her nervous.
“Whether it’s the economy, rising prices, or the pandemic, there’s always going to be something, and this is just another one of those things we’re facing as business people,” Tan explained.
Even though the price surge hasn’t affected the business yet, she is getting ready for a significant price increase in raw ingredients.
“We do have to think quite seriously about how we’re going to pivot moving forward,” Tan said. “Especially at the tail end of this year, we’re really going to see those price increases impact business for us.”
But there is a positive aspect, as this gives Tan a chance to think differently about chocolate.
She has been experimenting with adding frozen dried fruits to her confections.
“It’s just a phase right now where we’re trying to be creative and think about how we can still focus on chocolate, but perhaps use it in a different way moving forward.”
So while a surge is on the horizon for Tan and other local chocolate shops, finding innovative ways around a difficult situation may seem like the best strategy for success in the future.
