COLTON, New York (WWNY) – With the holidays approaching, the chocolatiers at the now-closed Apothecary Chocolates in Colton would ordinarily be hard at work. But not this season.
“I was having difficulty with paying the prices, not only for chocolate but for packaging. The percentages were going up, and I thought, ‘Well, let me at least make it until Christmas,’ because Christmas is the time when people buy,” said Shelby Connelly, the former owner of Apothecary Chocolates.
In August, the Trump administration imposed country-specific tariffs on several key cocoa-producing countries. The cost to do business at Apothecary Chocolates tripled.
The business was forced to close, leaving its three chocolatiers without jobs.
“We sat down at the meeting, and they were ready with their note-taking, and they were going to tell me their ideas for the flavors they were going to make. I said,…
