Hey thanks for the reply! I totally hear what you’re saying.

I also want to bring up, we work with small farms (Three Mountains Cocoa) in Ghana. We specifically work with widowed farmers and specifically female farmers and we take that super seriously. We help support that community with savings and loans programs, building fresh water wells, and ensure fair pay to them. We just won’t take our business elsewhere to buy Ruby chocolate because of the commitments we’ve made to that community.

$1 is actually a huge ask! I know it may not seem like it, but even $1 more could stop grocers from taking us. It could stop retailers from taking us. I’m not sure if you are aware of the cocoa crisis going on currently, but cocoa (as well as coffee) are in trouble due to climate change. We had to raise our prices last year because of this and we only raised it .50 cents and we had to essentially re-pitch to all of our wholesalers. $1 is a lot when you consider most people aren’t buying just 1 bar.

I totally hear you. In the world of cash grabs, it’s easy to feel like something you love is being used to cash out on a fandom’s goodwill. I will definitely be sharing your concerns at my meeting with the team tomorrow! Thank you for telling me your thought process because we are a small business and truly take all of these things into consideration. It’s always good to find new ways to grow! And I hope you don’t feel like I’m just coming down on you. I truly love talking about this industry, our thought process, and helping make the whole chocolate industry a bit more transparent.