Higher chocolate prices leaving bitter taste for Winnipeg chocolatiers this Easter season
Local businesses raised prices amid surge in cocoa prices due to poor crops
Local chocolatiers are enjoying a sales boost from the Easter season, but Winnipeggers looking to stock up on chocolate bunnies and other confectioneries may find the costs too bitter for their taste.
Cocoa is currently trading at about $10,700 Canadian per tonne on the London Intercontinental Exchange, after peaking at over $17,000 during the holiday season.
A report by the U.K.-based charity Christian Aid earlier this February warned the impacts of extreme weather events and climate change in West Africa — where more than half of global cocoa is grown — have led to a jump in prices similar to a spike around the same time last year, when they quadrupled because of droughts, floods and climate-related diseases.
Fred Morden, owner of Mordens' of Winnipeg, said business is booming because of Easter, but the increase in pricing is not at all sweet.
"A lot of people, smaller operations than mine, are probably really having a hard time," he said.
"We're watching everything that we're doing right now. We're not over-buying. We're not putting ourselves in a financial situation where, you know, we wouldn't be able to pay for anything."
The chocolatier said he started raising prices around the winter holiday season. Mordens' also plans to introduce a smaller chocolate box later this year to offer a more affordable product.
The uncertainty of U.S. tariffs is also weighing on his business, said Morden.
"We're just sitting back and we're waiting," he said. "We're not going to have any knee-jerk reaction. We're just trying to be as calm as possible about it."
'Had to raise our prices'
Helen Staines, owner of Decadence Chocolates on Sherbrook Street in Winnipeg, said the increase has forced her to make some changes to her product line.
"I've added some different products that are still chocolate-focused, but they have other ingredients in them as well," she said.
"We've had to raise our prices, yeah. There's no two ways about it. You can't just take on a 400 per cent increase."
WATCH | Winnipeg chocolatiers raise prices ahead of Easter amid shortage:
Some Winnipeggers outside a grocery store Tuesday said the price of chocolate kept them from purchasing a sweet treat.
"The cashier offered the deal of the day, [which] was a … [chocolate] bunny rabbit" said Anne Oramasionwu. "I said, 'Is it a dollar?' She said, 'No, it's $6.'"
Oramasionwu declined the deal.
"That's expensive," she said.
Leyla Angel said she saw a Lindt Lindor chocolate box which cost her about $8 last year on sale for $10.99.
"Nowadays with everything, I have to prioritize what you're actually going to buy," she said. "I don't need chocolate today."
Morden said he expects markets to correct, but it might take time for farmers to recover, as they have to re-plant their cacao trees.
"It takes about five or seven years for these trees to get to a mature stage."
With files from Gavin Axelrod