Tony Stefanelli has been in the chocolate business for decades. He’s the owner of Romolo’s Chocolates in Erie.

He said the rising cocoa prices are unlike anything he’s ever seen. 

“In the last several years, I’ve seen an increase of 300 percent," he said.

Most of the world’s cocoa comes from West Africa. A lot of crops there have been damaged.

But that’s not the only problem.

“We have a weather component, we have a tariff component, [and] we have a price component,” he said. 

Just this week, Hershey said it’s going to raise its prices because of the cost of cocoa.

That amount will be a percentage in the “lower double-digit range,” the company said. 

“Our government is challenging us. Our government doesn’t recognize climate change, and our economics that are happening…the prices are going up,” Stefanelli said. 

He said the cocoa market is so volatile, he doesn’t know what the future of Romolo’s looks like.

“It’s just getting overwhelming to not pass this price on to our customers,” he said. “We haven’t yet, and we’re taking a look at this fall if we’re going to need to.”

That is not something he wants to do, but he might not have much of a choice. Romolo’s has been losing money for years.

“We’re in a tremendously difficult situation as far as what to do looking at the future,” he said.

He wants to expand the business and give his employees raises. Now, he can’t, and that’s frustrating. 

He hopes people will stick with Romolo’s as they figure out what to do next.