In this article, we'll explain the factors that determine the price of the guaranteed nut-free chocolate and why it's truly worth every cent. In the second section of the article, you'll learn why the shipping costs for the current Dammenberg delivery have suddenly increased tenfold, to as much as six euros per bar.
Maybe you sometimes wonder why the guaranteed nut-free (soy-free, dairy-free, etc.) chocolates from Dammenberg, Plamil, L'Atelier des 5 Volcans, Malmö, and Kuná cost so much more than "regular" chocolate available in any supermarket?
Well, on the one hand, this is because these varieties are produced abroad, and the procurement costs are correspondingly high. On the other hand, it's because allergen-free production is a niche market. Unfortunately, the food retail industry focuses on foods that all consumers buy. High production volumes reduce costs immensely, while low production volumes quickly cause costs to skyrocket. Nut-free chocolate is premium chocolate, often lovingly handcrafted. Many varieties are poured by hand, and this craftsmanship drives up production costs...
And of course, it takes a lot of effort to ensure that no allergens are contaminated during production! Every manufacturing step must therefore be carefully monitored! Who ensures that there isn't a single peanut among the delivered cocoa beans? Despite all this: 40 euros (!) for 1 kg of milk chocolate – Venezuela 43% from Dammenberg. Is the effort really so high that the chocolate costs that much?
The answer is clear: Yes, we can promise you, the chocolate is worth every cent you pay for it. Because it's a real challenge for us every day to make the virtually impossible possible and offer you the chocolate so easily through the Chocolate Wonderland. All you have to do is choose the chocolate here in the Chocolate Wonderland, click "Buy," pay, and a few days later, DHL will deliver the chocolate to your home. This is so wonderfully convenient for you, yet for us as a small online shop, it involves incredible effort.
Why is it so difficult to offer you this chocolate? We'll show you why with the help of the current Dammenberg shipment, which is now on its way to us from Finland.
On May 20th, we ordered Dammenberg chocolate from Finland to fill our warehouse for the summer. Ordering means we are in personal contact with Mr. Iso-Kungas, the owner and founder of Dammenberg. There's no online ordering option; instead, we work with several Excel spreadsheets. Mr. Iso-Kungas (who, by the way, is wonderfully uncomplicated and very friendly) processed our order directly and had the chocolate produced. Yesterday (May 21st), the chocolate left the chocolate factory.
And this shipping was a real challenge, because we're currently facing a problem: the temperatures in Finland ! Even though it seems so obvious in our modern times, it was more than uncertain how we would transport the chocolate smoothly through Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and across Germany to the Chocolate Wonderland. The chocolate must not be damaged during transport, must not be transported at temperatures above 15 degrees Celsius (and must not be contaminated by nuts or soy)... Even though it's relatively cool in Germany at the moment, it's significantly warmer in Finland:
That's exactly the temperature that prevailed in Lempäälä on Tuesday when Mr. Marko Iso-Kungas from Dammenberg shipped the chocolate. And as you can imagine, the temperature in a transport vehicle is considerably higher, estimated at over 40 degrees Celsius!
It's practically impossible to send the chocolate across Europe for 7 days under these circumstances. Common delivery services like UPS, DHL, DPD, and Postnord (Finnish Post) are definitely out of the question. And even if they didn't, the chocolate would no longer be edible (incidentally, this may be the reason why there are unfortunately increasing complaints on Amazon and eBay. Customers there complain that premium chocolate purchased from dubious retailers is often spoiled/rancid.)
The chocolate therefore needs to be refrigerated during transport! We therefore arranged for a shipping company at short notice to transport the chocolate from Finland across Europe to our Chocolate Wonderland in a special refrigerated vehicle. This refrigeration alone costs us six euros per kilogram (which means an additional six euros for 1 kg of Dammenberg chocolate).
But what would be the point of foregoing refrigeration and selling you rancid chocolate?!
As you can see, there are always challenges we face and have to solve. But it's fun, and when we finally receive a nice email, for example, from an overjoyed daughter who can finally eat delicious chocolate again, then we know: We've done everything right 🙂