New Mexican chocolate shops taste bitter effects of increased cocoa prices

In her 15 years co-owning Kakawa Chocolate House, Bonnie Bennett said she’s never seen cocoa prices this high.

“We use a lot of it, and we use it every day — that’s not going to change. That’s who we are,” Bennett said. “That’s what our business is; it’s a chocolate house. That is our focus, (and) we have to keep buying it and keep trying to figure out the best way through.”

The Santa Fe-based shop is one of many New Mexico chocolatiers and chocolate makers feeling the effects of increasing ingredient prices. Cocoa prices have steadily risen since early 2024, according to J.P. Morgan. Disease, climate change and inclement weather have destroyed crops in West Africa, which generates around 80% of global supplies.

That, combined with increased tariffs from most countries exporting cocoa to the U.S., might make for an expensive — or lollipop-heavy — Halloween season this fall.

Bennett said she can’t imagine there’s anyone in her industry who isn’t being affected by the cocoa shortage. For small, family-owned businesses like hers, ingredient sparsity challenges them to find ways to save money and stay afloat.

Kakawa Chocolate House has raised product prices in order to help mitigate the effect of the shortage. Bennett didn’t increase any product by more than a dollar, assuring customers the store would stay true to its core.

“We’re not changing from using organic. We’re not shifting to inferior ingredients. We’re not making things or packages smaller,” Bennett said. “We made very conscious decisions that we were going to continue to stand strong on what we believe in and who we are.”

Because cacao trees require specific conditions to thrive, like warm temperatures, high humidity and plenty of rainfall, there are hardly any U.S. areas that can produce viable crops for commercial use.

It can take up to five years for the trees to produce cocoa pods, which contain cocoa beans, according to World Wide Chocolate, a wholesale global chocolate distributor. On average, cacao trees generate 30 to 40 pods annually, each containing around 20 to 50 beans. It takes nearly 400 cocoa beans to make one pound of chocolate.

Eldora Chocolate Owner Steve Prickett said his business is unique in the marketplace as a “bean to bar” shop. As a chocolate maker, he orders cocoa beans that have been harvested, fermented and dried, as opposed to chocolatiers, who buy ready-made chocolate.

“When we say we make it from scratch, we do, we make it from the beans,” Prickett said.

Prickett founded the Albuquerque-based confectionery in 2018 after falling in love with the craft. He buys from various farmers and has made chocolate sourced from 37 countries, he said. Compared to 2023, Prickett said, he’s now paying double for the raw material.

“What industry can survive or do well when their raw material cost doubles?” Prickett asked.

When Heather Clark began working at Theobroma Chocolatier in high school, she didn’t know she was “gifted” with chocolatier knowledge. More than that, she couldn’t have known she’d end up taking over the business in 2021 when its original owners wanted to retire.

“My heart lives in that shop,” Clark said. “It’s just so near and dear to me. We have so many repeat customers.”

Founded in 1996, Clark said the business is the oldest chocolatier in Albuquerque. Wanting to remain competitive in the industry, she often looks at newer chocolate shops to compare product prices. She’s also begun buying supplies during the off-season before costs go up around major holidays.

Clark estimates that the company uses roughly 325 pounds of chocolate monthly and orders large quantities three times a year. In order to cut back on costs, she said they’ve begun blending their high-quality chocolate with a cheaper one, though both are from the same manufacturer.

“Obviously we don’t want to lower the quality of our products,” Clark said. “But, I think finding small ways to blend two to get more use out of the more expensive one is helpful.”

The business has also increased its prices, though Clark said she feels it still has some of the cheapest options for the quality.

Because most customers don’t follow the commodities market, she said they’ve had to explain the increases multiple times.

“Chocolate is a luxury item,” Clark said. “When people start needing to cut things out, they cut out these items.”

Despite having to change the business model slightly, Clark said many customers are just happy to see the shop still operating. Company transparency, regardless of if patrons continue shopping there or not, is important to Clark.

“I have faith that everything will always work itself out,” Clark said. “We’ve built a great, little business with good customer service and a good product that I believe in. So, I think overall, we’ll be OK.”