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SALT LAKE CITY — Nearly half a million tons of cocoa beans sit on the docks in the Ivory Coast, West Africa, because of a political battle for control of the country's cocoa exports.
At issue is former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo refusing to relinquish his position — and control of the country's more than $1 billion per year estimated cocoa profits — to newly-elected President Alassane Ouattara.
Ouattara has called for international sanctions on exporters who pay taxes to Gbagbo's unrecognized government. The Ivory Coast produces about 40 percent of world supply, and right now, the cocoa sitting in the country's ports could essentially go to waste soon.
As the politics of this cocoa dispute play out in the Ivory Coast, Utah chocolatiers are feeling the pinch as financial analysts report the price of cocoa beans has risen from $1,000 in 2000 to $3,500 in 2011, a 32-year high.
"We've had to raise our prices, which I don't know how much more we can do," said Marilyn Oakey, general manager of C. K. Cummings Candies in Salt Lake City. "That's kind of difficult, you can price yourself out of the market."
It's no secret chocolate is a delectable treat for many people--an obsession for some.
"Me and chocolate? A love-hate relationship," said Mackenzie Leckie, of Salt Lake City. "It's obviously not good for me, especially when I'm trying to work out."
Leckie, like many others, likes to indulge in chocolate; however, the price hikes really hit home for her. She's buying chocolates for her father at C. K. Cummings Candies.
"I originally went to Godiva, but it was so expensive that I knew I had to go to a local place," said Leckie.
"I've been told that our contract for this year, which ends March 31, we're going to be seeing at least a 30-cents per pound increase in chocolate prices, which is crazy," explained Oakey.
So far, Oakey says she's locked into a contract this year. So even if cocoa prices rise or fall, she'll pay the same price for chocolates. It's the outlook for next year that's a bit unsettling.
"I still have enough to get me through Easter, at least," said Oakey. "But I would say going into the Christmas season, we're going to see some price increases. Either that or change chocolates."
Other chocolatiers, such as Amano in Orem are also feeling an impact in rising cocoa prices, because they're planning their specialty gourmet chocolate purchases a year ahead.
"The problems in the Ivory Coast happened at the worst possible time," said Art Pollard, founder and head chocolate maker at Amano Artisan Chocolate. "When we buy our cocoa, we buy it for the year, and right now we're gearing up for the next year."
Pollard says Amano's process for producing chocolate is more involved than the ordinary processes most chocolatiers undertake.
"Some cocoa we pay upwards of three to four times the market rate, and that's what it takes to make gourmet chocolates," said Pollard. "We'll pay more to farm good quality cocoa than what people pay for finished chocolates at the store."
Even if the cocoa bean situation improves in the Ivory Coast, there's still the residual impact of high cocoa prices that chocolatiers are now dealing with.
"China's buying up a lot of the products," said Oakey. "They're telling us on some of our coatings that palm kernel oil is being bought out of the country and there is none available."
Which means, says Oakey, chocolatiers are going to have to get more creative to stay afloat.
"Here in the United States we're just going to have to either figure out a different way or have to find other ingredients that they can use that's not getting purchased everywhere else," said Oakey.
Still, the political battle over cocoa doesn't bother some chocolate lovers.
"I will continue to make brownies for my grandchildren and we'll have chocolate eggs for Easter," said chocolate lover Neill Marriott. "And when the occasion rises, yes, we'll have chocolate no matter the price."
But others will cut back a bit.
"After this I won't be buying it for my personal use, but only when I really need to," said Leckie.
E-mail: niyamba@ksl.com
