The seductive allure of chocolate stores might be getting more scarce as boutiques and factories specializing in the tasty treat face supply chain issues that could threaten their survival.
A variety of factors have combined to push the price of chocolate up recently, which has led one Montreal chain to close after two decades in business. The shutdown comes amid a shortage of cocoa of 146,000 tons for last year and this, according to the International Cocoa Organization, as reported by Confectionery News.
The 20-year-old Juliette & Chocolat chain, which used chocolate in its brownies, pastries and other dishes, announced the closing of its eight outlets this week, citing rising costs among other factors. The Juliette & Chocolat restaurants were located in the following Montreal-area spots occupying real estate spotlighted in CoStar data: Faubourg Boisbriand, Monkland Ave., Saint Laurent Blvd., Saint Catherine and Guy, Saint Denis, Jean Talon E., Centropolis Laval and Sources Blvd.
The chain, which was founded by husband and wife team Lionel May and Juliette Brun in 2003, posted a note on its website citing losses during the pandemic. It also added “rising costs and the impact of inflation on the eating habits of our guests" mean "today our restaurants are unfortunately no longer profitable,” it wrote.
Nicolas Butelet, a Montreal representative of the Barry Callebaut chocolate company, which describes itself as the world's leading maker of high-quality chocolate, said the price of chocolate has a lot to do with harvests in West Africa, a region that supplies 70% of the world’s cocoa.
“They harvest two crops in Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire, one in September and one in February. The price of cacao depends on the quality of those harvests. Will the price rise? We hope not,” said Butelet.
He notes that other factors dictating the price of chocolate include the supply of soy lecithin, which has been harder to find due to the conflict in Ukraine. Canadian importers are also affected by the low Canadian dollar, which has dropped to 74 cents to the U.S. dollar after peaking at 83 cents in May 2021.