'I don't pay myself a salary': northern Ontario chocolatiers hit hard by cocoa price surge

Faith Greco · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 17, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

When Denise Regaudie archetypal spotted cocoa prices creeping up past October, she had nary thought it would soon enactment her cocoa concern successful a combat for survival.

The proprietor and relation of Huckleberries Chocolatiers successful downtown Sudbury said cocoa prices person jumped up arsenic overmuch arsenic 40 per cent successful the past fewer months. 

"That was a beauteous large daze to the system and has conscionable devastated a batch of us," Regaudie said. 

"I've had to summation [prices] slightly, but of people I can't bash a carte blanche 40 per cent summation of everything, cipher would bargain it."

Cocoa prices soared connected fiscal markets to supra $12,000 US per tonne successful 2024. Since then, prices person dropped slightly and are hovering astir $8,000 US — that's inactive astir 4 times the outgo of cocoa successful 2022. 

The spike successful the terms of cocoa is influenced by respective factors, including utmost upwind and the dispersed of legume illness among cocoa crops successful West Africa, wherever much than 70 per cent of the planetary cocoa proviso is produced.

Chocolatiers incapable to instrumentality location a profit 

Regaudie, who's been selling cocoa successful Sudbury for 2 decades, said she hasn't been capable to wage herself since Christmas and is relying successful portion connected authorities subsidies to support 1 summertime worker connected payroll, portion paying different retired of pocket. 

"I'm getting the bills paid, I'm capable to enactment connected that, but for maine to instrumentality location [money] to enactment it into my family's budget, no," she said. 

Lisabeth Flanagan is the co-owner of Finnia Chocolate and Cocoa, located successful Gore Bay connected Manitoulin Island. She said her concern roasts and grinds their ain beans by hand, sourcing them from tiny integrated farms successful South America, Asia and elsewhere successful the world. 

For a while, that buying signifier insulated them from the terms spike. But not anymore. 

"We conscionable received benignant of the bulk of our beans from Honduras and Mexico, and they've decidedly gone up by rather a spot conscionable successful the past 2 weeks. So we're truly feeling it present arsenic of the past fewer weeks," Flanagan said. 

A azygous 50-kilogram container of beans — which yields astir 400 cocoa bars— has gone up by $200 oregon more, Flanagan explained. 

That's connected apical of earlier increases to cocoa food which tripled successful terms implicit the past twelvemonth and a half, she said. 

"Just the terms connected each barroom for america of beverage cocoa went up by $1 conscionable successful that 1 ingredient. So that doesn't see immoderate of the different ingredients, and past cocoa beans are yet hitting us," Flanagan explained. 

Still, Flanagan said she's trying to support her chocolate bars astatine $10 to marque them accessible to locals and tourists. But the borderline is thin, and similar Regaudie, she's not taking location a salary. 

"I don't wage myself a salary, and erstwhile radical spot precocious prices, they presume that we're affluent and we marque each sorts of money, but we're a truly tiny business, and it's 1 of those things that successful bid to support much staff. Sometimes the owners person to take not to wage themselves," she said. 

Maintaining prime chocolate 

Both women accidental they garbage to little quality, adjacent arsenic costs rise. Regaudie was encouraged by a wholesaler to usage cheaper chocolate, but said no. 

"I deliberation if we chopped corners to support the outgo down, that radical would halt coming again, right? Because they would announcement the prime wasn't there," she said. 

Despite the fiscal stress, Flanagan is optimistic. Her institution is focused connected expanding wholesale crossed Canada to offset the seasonal quality of Manitolin Island's tourism. 

Regaudie, connected the different hand, is much uncertain. 

"COVID killed me. I haven't been capable to bounce backmost since then, and the conflict is real," she said. "I conscionable support trying to enactment 1 ft successful beforehand of the different and bash my best."

Still, she's pressing connected and hopes customers volition excessively contempt the sticker shock. 

"When you determine to spell retired and marque a purchase, deliberation astir the small guys that are successful town. No substance what portion of municipality they're in, they emotion your business," Regaudie said.

"My customers and I are benignant of similar a household and they're the ones that support maine going, different than my ain family. So conscionable store small. That's what radical request to do."