Two days before Easter and the rows of chocolate and candy at Beernsten’s Candies in Green Bay were filled with people looking to fill their Easter baskets with treats.
“Usually Friday and Saturday before Easter are our busiest days,” owner Mark Beernsten said as the doors of the shop opened at exactly 9 a.m. with two customers waiting outside the door.
Those early arrivals came because they heard about Americans for Prosperity’s inflation relief event, providing customers with $20 off their total order at Beernsten’s Candies that morning.
“Thank you for doing this,” was the most common refrain from customers coming through the door stopping at the AFP table to get their coupon and to register for a gift basket AFP raffled off at the event.
Dozens of customers stopped by during the two-hour event, picking up everything from the traditional chocolate bunnies to chocolate covered Oreos, nuts, and a variety of other candies to fill their shopping baskets and eventually, Easter baskets for loved ones.
Beernsten said due to Easter coming earlier in the calendar this year, his team started making Easter treats in January. But there were points he wasn’t sure he’d even have enough supply. He said some of his normal suppliers couldn’t fill his usual requests, forcing him to look elsewhere to procure the chocolate he needed. Record prices for cocoa also led to record prices for Easter chocolate nationwide this year.
Just before the holiday, cocoa prices rose to $9,000/ton, compared to $2,000/ton the year before.
At Cocoa Couture in Appleton, owner Tarina Swanson was also very aware of the rising prices for cocoa and other inputs for chocolate treats but says she has held off raising prices as much as possible so customers could afford what they wanted from her boutique shop.
Americans for Prosperity held an inflation relief event at her shop the Friday before Easter as well, providing customers with $20 off their purchases, to ease the burden of higher prices.
Despite the extra effort she puts into hand making and decorating some of her specialty chocolates, she said customers appreciate the extra effort to provide something unique that can’t be found at every chocolate shop.
Americans for Prosperity believes freedom and opportunity are the keys to unleashing prosperity for all. We are a community of millions of concerned citizens advocating for solutions based on proven principles to tackle the country's most critical challenges. We have open positions for volunteer, part-time and full-time work to help us help fight for prosperity for all Americans.
To find out more about Americans for Prosperity and the ‘Prosperity is Possible’ tour of events around Wisconsin, check the events page on our website.
Last Update: Apr 05, 2024 8:46 am CDT
