State of the Union

Can I have a Hallelujah?!!!

(Disclaimer - Although Hallelujah by Leonard is THE undisputed Hallelujah song, I can’t but feel the excitement of Uptown funk right now)

HALLELUJAH!!!

It seems prices are starting to come down in the world of cocoa. Some of them at least.  

If you think back, cocoa butter went from about $8/lb to $32/lb a couple years ago.  A 55 lb box was well over a $1200.  It was so bad we started offering cocoa butter in 4 oz and 8 oz increments to be vaguely affordable.

Well, you might want to sit down for this.  

Effective right now Natural & Organic Cocoa Butter is $10/lb and a full box is just $450!

I can’t promise prices are going to stay there.  Shoosh, I sound like a bloody used car salesman but it is the truth. I urge you to stock up if you can afford it.  The next shipment might force me to raise the prices. Currently, I don’t have the exact story as to why the price is so low (internal supplier need to know info which apparently I don’t need to know) but I suspect the contracts were written to be tied to commodity prices.

What else might come down?

We are seeing other prices come down too.  Both commodity Ivory Coast and some Ghana have come down quite a bit.  Frankly they have come down too much as they are nearly where they were 6 years ago before the prices started rising. And there is some associated trickle down to various specialty cocoa.  But…..don’t expect most cocoa prices to come down a huge amount. Fuel costs remain high.  Contracts are often in place months before commodity prices drop. Businesses have levered hard to stay afloat with the absurdly high spikes. All that means there can be a significant delay in price adjustments if they even happen. Vanuatu, Madagascar, Uganda Semuliki and Costa Esmeraldas are soon to arrive but their prices are locked in place from contract start and in some cases, a bit higher due to the fuel price spikes due to the Iran debacle (freaking cheeto in charge). A new direct trade Guatemalan on the other hand is going to be more reasonably priced (but not insultingly so to farmers).

Nonetheless, prices are moving in the right direction and hopefully continue as long as they don’t negatively impact farmers again.  That would NOT be cool.

Downstream changes?  

Oh yeah.  I mentioned Ivory Coast above.  Sadly Rain Forest Alliance certified Ivory Coast is not to be had right now and that means I won’t be offering any Ivory Coast beans for the time being.  Although I trust the ethics of my supplier I just can’t be sure the entire supply chain is ethical and not using either slavery or child labor. I do not and will not be any part of that.  

Unfortunately, Ivory Coast RFA is part of our Code Delta Brewing Cacao and that’s a problem. But, the origin of Delta is change.  Delta T is the change in temperature of an object for instance (yes, I’m a massive nerd).  In this case it means we now have a delta to Code Delta as I HAVE been able to reformulate it.  You may or may not notice a change (a delta) in the flavor but it tastes very close to the same or we would not be still offering it. Let us know what you find, Delta Lovers.

The loss of Ivory Coast means the 68% Ivory Coast Kit is going away when it sells out.  So if you have been looking for the reason to try it, NOW is the time.

What does the future hold?

My crystal ball is in the shop so I can’t really say.

Just as one thing starts to settle down, something else flairs up.  What I can tell you is that Chocolate Alchemy is not going anywhere as long as you folks are still enjoying what we put out, both information and product wise. We value your support. It’s been a wild few years.

On the product front I’ve a new trio of Brewing Cacaos I’ll be releasing in the next couple weeks (plus that Madagascar I mentioned above).  Make sure you are subscribed to our newsletter to hear about both first.

On the information front I’m putting the finishing touches on a large mold and moisture study I started a few years back.  Folks are rightfully concerned about mold and mycotoxins in chocolate.  I found some REALLY interesting information I can’t hardly wait to share.

Until then, be kind to each other out there and go make some chocolate…and share it.  

Chocolate is caring.