Tammy Maki says she's never seen prices for cocoa quite this high. And that's part of the reason why the chef and owner of Raven Rising-Global Indigenous Chocolates has decided to close her business — the other reasons including the recent Canada Post strike that delayed shipments, the threat of tariffs from the United States and a staffing shortage. "Last year, chocolate pricing rose, for us, 90 per cent over the course of the year," Maki said.
"The last 45 per cent of that was right before our busiest time. Forty-five per cent is no small feat for a small business." Maki, who ran her business on White Bear First Nation, about 215 kilometres southeast of Regina, said before deciding to close, she considered making her products smaller to reduce the rising costs.
Chef Tammy Maki says she's had to close her chocolate business, in part because of the unsustainable cost of cocoa. (Facebook/Raven Rising-Global Indigenous Chocolates) "If I lower a chocolate bar by 10 grams in order to help me have some sort of profit margin, then that's what I have to do," she said. "Pricing will only bear what the consumer is willing to pay for your product.
" Because people don't consider chocolate a necessity, Maki says, the rising prices cost her customers, including corporate clients. The price hike is due to a shortage of cocoa from farms in major cocoa-producing countries in West Africa. A series of climate disasters, including floods and drought, have ruined crops in recent years.
Accordi.
