Visions of sugar plums have turned into visions of snarled supply chains for some Canadian candy companies this holiday season.
Suppliers of chocolate and other festive treats say they aren鈥檛 immune from the logistics and transportation issues that have plagued large segments of the Canadian economy in 2021. Candy makers have been having trouble sourcing everything from sugar and cocoa to packaging supplies such as plastic and cardboard.
鈥淭he last six months or so, supply chain issues for the candy business have really gotten serious,鈥� said Shaun Pilfold, owner of Ontario-based online candy store Candy Crave. 鈥淲e used to get freaked out if we had 15 products out of stock, now we鈥檙e at 50 or 60 out of stock.鈥�
The most affected items are the holiday classics, such as candy canes. Pilfold says suppliers seem to be focusing on filling orders from large retailers, meaning many smaller businesses have no candy canes at all.
鈥淲e ended up doing something we鈥檝e never done before, which is to go to a big box store to buy some candy canes just so we had a few to put in our gift boxes,鈥� Pilfold said.
Candy Crave also ran into trouble sourcing old-fashioned, hard Christmas candy.
鈥淲e went in November to a couple of our usual suppliers, early, and we couldn鈥檛 get any,鈥� Pilfold said. 鈥淲e ended up having to go to the U.S. and pay about 40 per cent more to get about 300 to 400 pounds of Christmas candy, which we鈥檝e sold out of completely.鈥�
Sweet toothed Canadians can take heart that there is no overall 鈥渟hortage鈥� of candy this holiday season, though there are certainly supply chain issues affecting the shipments and sale of certain types and varieties, said Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University.
Everything from the flooding in B.C. 鈥� which closed highways and affected inbound product from the Port of Vancouver 鈥� to ongoing labour shortages at factories, mills and processing plants across North America is playing a role.
鈥淪ourcing ingredients is an issue, and then that鈥檚 if you actually have anyone around to manufacture the foods you鈥檙e making,鈥� Charlebois said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been difficult for food manufacturers to keep enough people around to do the work.鈥�
At Master Chocolat in Calgary, owner and chocolate-maker Bernard Callebaut said his shelves are well-stocked this year, but he acknowledged it鈥檚 been a challenge to keep them that way.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been two things 鈥� the ingredient supply and the packaging supply,鈥� Callebaut said. 鈥淰ery simple things like fondant sugar, which is normally very common. It was really a challenge to get that. Ultimately, we found some by phoning around like crazy and paying too much.鈥�
Master Chocolat sources bulk chocolate from Belgium, and Callebaut said bringing in a shipping container from Antwerp this fall cost him twice as much as it usually does.
But he said he鈥檚 thankful he ordered well in advance and received enough that he is still filling orders, three days before Christmas.
鈥淚t is challenging, but if you have a creative hat on, you can find solutions,鈥� Callebaut said. 鈥淵ou might have more grey hairs by the 24th of December, but we were able to make it happen.鈥�
鈥擜manda Stephenson, The Canadian Press
