Price of chocolate: tips from chocolatiers to cushion soaring energy and packaging costs

This text corresponds to part of the transcription of the report above. Click on the video to watch it in full. A chocolate pumpkin, well garnished, priced at 39 euros, 28 euros for bottles, also garnished.

Violins, masks… Original and artisanal creations more expensive: around 20% more in two years. Customers of chocolate shops have noticed this: “Yes, I look at the prices, because the smallest box of chocolates still reaches new heights,” confides one woman. “I know that it has increased, like many consumer products… But it’s true that I don’t really look at the price here, because it’s good, it’s quality,” adds another.

To contain the soaring cost price of his chocolates, an artisan is making great efforts. In his workshop, for example, he uses real objects to create his molds, such as a pumpkin. On a machine, the plastic sheet heats and takes the shape of the vegetable.

A very simple mold to make, and a way to make big savings: "The pumpkin will cost five euros. The plastic, a sheet... Come on, 50 cents maximum. If I order this from a specialist, just the creation of a matrix, it would cost 1,000 euros", points out Serdar Sayim, chocolatier - Dadou.

It plays on form but does not compromise on quality. The chocolate he uses is a high-end product whose price continues to rise. “The quality chocolate that I buy, 10 years ago, I paid around eight euros per kilo.

Today, it has practically tripled, it's between 24 and 25 euros per kilo", specifies the artisan. His costs have tripled, but he has only increased his prices by around 20%. Less energy-consuming equipment In another chocolate factory, the artisan has a different recipe to limit the rise in prices: buy in large volumes and make it at home, like a cauldron of almonds and hazelnuts, to create his praline.

“The fact of making it ourselves allows us to bypass all the packaging a little,” says Gilles Cresno, chocolatier. He no longer buys plastic buckets from suppliers, he uses his own and saves five to ten euros per kilo of praline. “A bucket like that is worth seven-eight euros.

It's not much, but on 20 tonnes to be packaged in 15-20 kilo buckets, that already makes significant savings", underlines Gilles Cresno. The chocolatier also makes savings on energy. He bought new, less energy-consuming equipment, such as a roaster.

In store, his efforts to contain prices are appreciated: "The chocolates are very good and at a moderate price. I, who am a lover of chocolate in high doses, have taken up residence here," slips a man. Here, the bar of dark chocolate has gone from 3.50 euros to four euros in three years.

But customers follow. It's hard to resist the pleasure of biting into a small square of chocolate.

Machine-translated from French