Maine chocolatiers resist raising prices as holiday sales begin

At Dean’s Sweets in Portland, Maine, holiday season is underway. Or, at least, it seems like it’s around the corner.

“Just this past week, a couple came into one of our stores and I was helping them,” said co-owner Kristin Thalheimer Bingham. “One of them got very excited and kind of danced around the store saying, ‘I found my stocking stuffers! I found my stocking stuffers!’ So she could check it off her holiday shopping list.”

As holiday preparations continue, one of the biggest questions that Bingham has to deal with has been pricing.

“Costs have changed, even in the last few months. Chocolate has gone up about 10% to 15%, which is a continuation of the 10% to 15% it had already gone up in the spring and early summer,” Bingham said. “Our butter supplier also just notified us that they’ve raised their prices too. We use local butter, so the increase came with an apology.”

But Bingham, who runs the chocolate company with her husband, Dean Bingham, hasn’t hiked most of her prices — yet.

“We are resisting, really resisting price increases,” she said. “The fear is, of course, if we raise our prices, we’ll have fewer customers.”