While the price of a tonne of cocoa beans has seen a spectacular surge this year, going from $3,000 to $12,000, chocolate makers have seen their production costs explode. In Cantal, artisans are organizing themselves so that the prices of Christmas chocolates are not prohibitive.
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On the shelves of this Aurillac chocolate factory, Christmas themes have appeared. In the workshop, Chantal Riol now has a puzzle to manage. The co-manager of the chocolate factory says: “We are experiencing something that we have never experienced. Since the start of the year, we have had an increase in chocolate prices of around 60%. Original chocolates, which are already a little more expensive because they come from plantations, have increased even more. We are at 60 or even 80% increase”.
For the end of year celebrations, the workshop will use 4 to 5 tons of chocolate. Traditionally, this period represents 40% of annual turnover. Chantal Riol continues: “On a box of 25 chocolates, we have an increase of 1.20 euros. We tried to remain reasonable. Chocolates are still affordable. We increased it a little bit because we had to. We will also trim our margins”.
Same problem in another store in the Cantal capital. Some products have become very expensive to produce, such as fondant center cakes. After the increase in the price of butter, sugar and now chocolate, the cost price has almost doubled. From now on, Quentin Proumen offers alternatives that are cheaper to produce. The artisan baker-pastry chef-chocolatier explains: “We offer lemon and fruit cakes to try to compensate a little. When the weather is like today, we may want chocolate more but we try to find alternatives to adapt and not reduce our margins too much.”.
Despite the increases, this craftsman has chosen to maintain the same quality, without increasing his prices for the moment. Quentin Proumen adds: “White chocolate was around 8 euros per kg, now we are at 18 euros for exactly the same product. Cocoa butter has seen its price almost quadruple. We are able to compensate based on volume. But we can't do this forever”.
Cocoa is always more expensive because of poor harvests in Africa and stock market speculation.
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