Saskatoon chocolate shop prepares for Easter amid looming price jump [Video]

With the arrival of Easter, chocolate enthusiasts have been looking forward to indulging in the sweet treat.

For Julianna Tan, chocolatier and owner of Those Girls at the Market in Saskatoon, she almost couldn’t keep up with demand heading into the long weekend.

“We pretty much sold out of our pre-orders, so I’m kind of at my capacity,” Tan said. “This year went very well.”

While the chocolate side of her business is seeing success, she can’t help but have some concerns over rising prices.

A February report by agriculture-focused co-operative bank CoBank said cocoa prices were nearly 65-per cent higher than a year ago, and New York futures prices were at a 46-year high.

The surge is attributed to several factors, including plant disease in Africa, and heavy rains disrupting the supply chain.

“The confection business is going to bear the brunt of the margin impact due to cocoa,” Hershey …