Sault Ste. Marie chocolate shop on global cocoa shortage
A bitter trend is impacting one of the country's sweetest industries.
Alyson MacLeod of Sweet Change chocolate shop in Sault Ste. Marie. March 26/24 (Cory Nordstrom/CTV Northern Ontario)
The latest from Statistics Canada explains why the price of Easter chocolate may be higher than you expect.
The price of confectionery rose nine per cent from January 2023 to January 2024.
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Bad weather and disease in West Africa is being blamed for the shortage in the global cocoa market.
The impact is being seen in northern Ontario at Sault Ste. Marie Belgian chocolate shop Sweet Change.
Owner Alyson MacLeod said the reduced supply was stressful for her business operations.
"There were a couple of times where we tried to order and they just didn't have any in stock, so of course, I'm searching U.S. suppliers, Dominican suppliers, going to Amazon, doing whatever it is we can to try and get chocolate," MacLeod said.
"We were down to the last small bag of chocolate at one point and we were all just kind of looking at each other freaking out a little bit."
She said they've had to raise the price on the company's specialty chocolate by eight per cent because of associated costs.
"The white chocolate, the ruby chocolate, the gold chocolate, that has gone up from about $137 a bag, to $182," MacLeod said.
"A year ago, we had a hard time getting the larger bags of our milk and dark chocolate, so we had to get the smaller bags, which of course is at a higher cost."
The cost of shipping to northern Ontario, she added, also increased 14 per cent in the last year.
As the company looks to recoup some of those costs, MacLeod said they've been busy at local markets and still have two more coming up on Easter weekend.
"We sold over 200 Easter items last weekend alone ... it does get a little crazy and hectic, but it's always great," she said.
There is still uncertainty about the future of the business, however.
She said if the cost of chocolate continues to rise, they may be forced to readjust prices once again.
"It is a worry because this is our staple, this is what we do."
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