Cocoa bean shortage not so sweet for Saskatoon chocolate shop owner

The price of chocolate is leaving a sour taste in the mouth of Shane Nemanishen, the co-owner of Rocky Mtn Chocolate in Saskatoon.

Due to a shortage of cocoa beans, the price of chocolate has skyrocketed, according to the shop owner.

“I’m not the only business owner struggling with increased costs,” he said. “We knew the shortage was coming, but not prices skyrocketing this much.”

Chocolate is sold by the tonne on the bulk wholesale market, and typically what used to cost Nemanishen up to $3,000 a tonne now sets the shop owner back up to $10,000.

“That’s a huge increase,” he said, adding that chocolate for the shop was purchased months in advance to cushion the large spike in pricing, but he said it still affects the business.

Canadian food researcher and professor Sylvain Charlebois said in a previous interview with 650 CKOM that West African regions that produce cocoa are being impacted by a seasonal pest that’s impacting production.

That has sent cocoa prices to a 44-year high, with dark chocolate prices surging the most.

Nemanishen said some bigger chocolate companies will look at cutting costs as prices continue to climb, such as diluting recipes with cheaper artificial ingredients or making chocolate bars smaller.

Although it will cost Nemanishen more out of pocket, he said he’s not planning on using substitute ingredients to make his store’s premium chocolate.

“It just comes down to when prices are high, our margins will be less,” he said. “We are not going to sacrifice quality over price.”

In the midst of the cocoa bean shortage, Nemanishen said he will not be changing the price of his chocolates either, and will be holding the line during the Easter season.

He said he hopes he can keep his prices the same in the long run, and ride out the shortage.