Chocolate woes: Local business Talks tariffs and Costs with Local Representative

Representative Paul Tonko recently visited a Saratoga Springs chocolate shop to go over the impact of tariffs on the business. 

The visit took place Nov. 24 at Saratoga Chocolate Co. in the Saratoga Marketplace on Broadway. Tonko toured the shop, spoke with employees and helped pack a few orders. 

The visit was one of two visits to local businesses aimed at looking at the impacts of recent tariffs on small businesses, the other taking place at DeFazio’s Pizzeria in Troy on Nov. 25. 

During the visit, co-owner Allison Rose talked about the issues facing her shop, particularly rising costs due to tariffs. Rose said the tariffs impact multiple parts of her business from the cocoa itself to the packaging and machinery used to produce and sell it. 

“It’s hitting us on all of our cocoa products, it’s hitting us on equipment, it’s hitting us on packaging,” Rose said. 

She highlighted specific examples of prices going up like her chocolate jars which went up in price by 32% and a chocolate producing machine which went up in price by nearly $6,000 from when she was quoted the price to when paid for the machine. 

The tariffs were just one of multiple recent challenges impacting chocolatiers worldwide. Rose cited climate change and epidemics of black pod rot as causes for increasing prices. 

In September, an epidemic of the fungal infection devastated farms in Cameroon, the fifth largest producer of cocoa in the world, according to reporting by Rueters. Meanwhile, recent research by scientists from Harvard’s Salata Institute found that excessive rainfall and droughts are to blame for much of the cocoa crop failures over the last two years. 

Rose said the tariff on cocoa caused prices to rise 15-20% and that the tariff was unavoidable as cocoa can’t be produced in the United States. Another area where Rose said her prices have gone up is in packaging which she said have gone up 60% due to tariffs. 

It’s not just prices that have been impacted. Rose said she’s had to worry about how she pays her employees due to the tariffs. 

“I have an intense desire to try to raise wages and offer benefits to the folks on my staff who are more full-time employees, and try to create career track opportunities for folks,” Rose said. “With our margins being as hit as they have been for the past two years, it has been very difficult for me to move my own employee forward in a way that will foster goodwill and result in employee retention.” 

These tariffs are already causing some chocolatiers to close shop. Rose pointed to the recent closure of Apothecary Chocolates in Colton as an example of this. Rose said that she got a call from the owner offering some of her packaging supplies to help Rose continue operations. 

In addition to the packaging supplies, the owner also gave her moral support which Rose said helped exponentially.  

“I don’t think anybody truly can appreciate what the chocolate industry is going through, unless you’ve been in the chocolate industry,” Rose said. “There are a lot of different businesses in this area that are very significantly impacted by the cost of chocolate rising.” 

While Tonko didn’t have numbers on how many businesses had closed within the 21st congressional district as a result of the tariffs, Rose pointed out that it’s not just the decision to close businesses that small businesses owners are dealing with. 

Rose said that some businesses may decide not to grow due to increased costs or consumer behaviors. 

“I know that business owners that I’ve spoken to are like, ‘we’re just going to hold its status quo right now, because we just don’t know in this economy,” Rose said.  “We just don’t know what’s happening with prices. We just don’t know how the consumers are going to respond. Because we’re all feeling those upward pressures in so many areas of our own budget.”