Local chocolatiers forced to adapt as cocoa prices soar

Ottawa-Gatineau chocolatiers are changing their production processes, focusing on retail versus wholesale and raising prices to deal with higher cocoa costs. 

Kathani Parikh started Choco Delights, an online chocolate shop based out of Gatineau's Aylmer sector, last year, and says in that time she's seen prices rise 20 to 30 per cent for cocoa butter and beans.  

Parikh sources her ingredients from three suppliers including one in Peru, and has struggled to maintain a regular supply.

She said crop disease affected some of her suppliers, one of whom had to close due to operational strains over the Christmas holidays, leaving Parikh in the lurch at a busy time of year. 

Changing weather patterns, heavy rains and disease have lowered cocoa crop yields and affected prices. 

Maha Surani owns Bisou Dates, which will soon open a storefront on Gladstone Avenue in Ottawa. She gets her chocolate from a maker in Montreal that sources its raw ingredients from equatorial countries including Nigeria, Cameroon, Brazil and Ecuador.

Surani said she's seen a jump in chocolate costs of about 15 per cent — and it's not just the weather that farmers are having to deal with. 

"Regardless of where the cocoa beans come from, there are so many systemic issues such as poverty, child labour, et cetera, and the demand for cocoa around the world has increased tremendously, creating shortages." 

Surani said costs started rising for her in 2020. She tried to wait out the increases, but eventually had to raise her prices. A chocolate with dates and nuts that used to cost $2.50 now sells for $2.80. 

"It wasn't just the cocoa beans and the chocolate, it was everything else, right?" Surani said. "The prices went up for all the raw materials, the nuts from Iran, the nuts from California, et cetera, but the customers were really good about it."

Planning ahead

Both women said they've had to raise their prices because they wouldn't consider using cheaper chocolate. Both say they use ethically sourced Couverture chocolate because there's a big difference in taste. 

In an effort to keep costs down, Parikh purchased machinery to automate some of her process. 

"It increased my capacity to make chocolate so that I can produce more and keep [prices lower] instead of putting a higher price," she said. 

Surani is shifting her business model from more of a wholesale model to one that focuses "90 per cent" on retail.

Parikh said she's already learned to order nearly a year in advance to ensure she has what she needs, while Surani is looking at working with her manufacturer so she can stockpile enough product — without hoarding it and making it harder for other chocolate makers.