It's been in the news a lot the past few months, if not years, that prices are on the up. This has been felt in all industries and in all households, including our own. At one point, in 2021, we had one of our ingredients increase in price by 60% in just 3 months. Since then, pricing has only continued to increase, with our suppliers for labels, boxes and almost all of our core ingredients reporting new pricing every time we order.
We made a conscious decision to keep our prices steady for the new year, as we've always wanted to keep Goupie as affordable as possible. We hate the idea of an 'exclusive' product, which is only accessible for a minority of people. Part of the reason we transformed our entire range into being both vegan and gluten-free was to allow as many people as possible to enjoy the products, together. However, we also do believe in quality and paying fairly, both of which come hand-in-hand with more expensive products.
We expect that you can see where this is going, we're at a point where we need to increase our prices. We ummed and ahhed about the best way to do this. Should we just increase our prices and not say anything? Should we reduce our pack sizes? Should we implement a minimum order quantity online?
In the end, we knew the way we'd like to handle it, and that was through a very honest explanation. It might not be needed, we've all read the latest headlines, but we'd like to do it regardless!
One of the biggest headline stories, and probably one which is being felt quite acutely by anyone who regularly drives a car, is the price of fuel. This is an unavoidable cost which is echoed across every single supplier, and also through our own couriers. It is a marginal cost per unit for each product, but when accumulated across all of our ingredients, packaging and deliveries, it really adds up! We can all hope that the prices start to flatten out a little bit or, even better, that our global transition to a fuel-free world comes to fruition sooner, rather than later. In the meantime, we just have to hold our breath and put up with it!
Another well-documented news story at the moment, is the cost of ingredients. Basically, they're all on the up! We're not a production-based economy in the UK, and we definitely aren't the place to go if you're looking for a cocoa plantation or hazelnut grove. This means for products like ours, we're reliant on importing our ingredients. If you want to make sure your products have come from a reliable and sustainable source, you pay a premium for the privilege (rightly so as it reflects the true cost of a sustainable product). Sure, we could switch to cheaper alternatives, but we don't believe that's the right thing to do!
Something which probably doesn't come to mind immediately when you're thinking about chocolate is cardboard. Unfortunately, at least half of our storage room is filled with the stuff. Packaging is essential to protect and promote your product, but sometimes it really does feel like we're selling printed board rather than confectionery! We need it for our Goupie boxes and our mailing boxes to avoid damage and using alternatives such as plastic. However, the price of card has been on the rise since the pandemic began due to unprecedented mail-order demand and insufficient supply.
Along with all of these price increases, comes an inevitable living wage increase. The Living Wage Foundation bases the REAL living wage figures on actual prices. This means that when actual prices increase, the real living wage increases along with them. This way, anyone on that wage is theoretically still able to afford the true cost of living. We are a living wage employer, and year on year our wages increase in proportion to inflation. It's something we wouldn't dream of changing but it is a reality contributing to our increased costs.
Now that we've bored you with the ins and outs of keeping our small business going, we're going to officially announce that from August, some of our prices will be going up. We hope that you still continue to support us and hopefully this blog post has helped to shed some light on the rationale behind this decision!
Much love, from the Goupie family xxx
