For weeks, businesses across the U.S. have scrambled to plan for President Donald Trump’s widespread tariffs. That includes two Houston Heights dessert shops.
Pudgy’s Fine Cookies and Underground Creamery at 1010 N Shepherd Dr. have been on edge as news about Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs roll out. According to Josh DeLeon, owner and operator at Underground Creamery, and Pudgy’s owner Van Teamer, tariffs threaten to raise prices on dessert staples like chocolate, coffee, and matcha.
Known for their “thick AF” chocolate chip cookie, Pudgy’s cookie menu relies heavily on quality chocolate. Instead of pedestrian brands like Nestle and Tollhouse, Teamer looks to culinary grade chocolate brands like Valrhona and Cacao Barry from France and Callebaut from Belgium. Imports from the European Union are subjected to a 20 percent tariff, which came into effect on April 9, according to the BBC.
According to Teamer and DeLeon, chocolate is the most expensive ingredient at both businesses. Though Underground Creamery doesn’t regularly include chocolate in its beloved ice cream pints, DeLeon admitted to stocking up prior to the tariffs, buying around $7,000 worth of high-quality chocolate before the tariffs hit.
“Chocolate is scarce already,” DeLeon said. “It’s not growing as much, same with coffee and matcha.”
Even before Trump’s tariffs, the global chocolate industry was having problems as early as the beginning of 2024. Producers in West Africa began noticing that cocoa trees were producing less healthy pods. In Ghana, cocoa farms saw the rise of “black pod disease” and weeks of high temperatures, which severely impacted the harvest, according to Food Chain Magazine. Globally, chocolate prices have skyrocketed and are projected to continue climbing this year. Similar issues have also plagued the coffee and matcha trades. Ongoing shortages, combined with the tariffs, have raised prices even higher.
DeLeon said other ingredients, like hazelnut chocolate and vanilla, are also at risk for price hikes. Hazelnut chocolate costs around $600 per case now, but could go up to $800 with tariffs. Vanilla paste and extracts from Madagascar cost around $550 now, but are subject to a 47 percent tariff.
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Alongside tariff concerns, Pudgy’s and Underground are still dealing with other financial challenges. During the May 2024 derecho and Hurricane Beryl, the two businesses lost power for at least a week. Teamer and DeLeon gave away their ice cream and cookies for free to passersby during the outages, then claimed their losses through insurance. Unfortunately, Teamer said, their claims were capped at $10,000–way below the pair’s losses. “We’re still recovering…all that chocolate we had to rebuy,” she said.
But will the tariffs increase Teamer and DeLeon’s prices?
“If push comes to shove,” DeLeon said.
So there you have it. These places (which I totally need to try for myself) deal in life’s little luxuries, which means that they really can’t afford to jack up prices. People will just find substitutes for their wares, of which there are plenty at lower price points. Remember when Republicans were supposed to be business friendly? Boy, those were the days.
Wonder if there are more beer drinkers than chocolate eaters.
New tariffs have been placed on goods from other countries and they’re going to cause prices to jump on all kinds of stuff in Texas and elsewhere like cars, electronics, apparel, fruits, veggies and lots more.
The worst price hike of ’em all? Beer prices are going up.
It’s not because of tariffs on the ingredients or importation, we make plenty of brew right here in the USA. It’s the aluminum cans, being hit with a 25% tariff, that will cause the price of a 6 pack to rise $1 – $2 dollars.