How this Phoenix dessert maker is combating the chocolate shortage ahead of Easter

Tracy Dempsey has been a fixture in the Valley food scene for decades, renowned for everything from her Mexican chocolate pot de creme to homemade marshmallows.

After many years at Cowboy Ciao in Scottsdale, she now has her own line of desserts called Tracy Dempsey Originals, which has its own storefront and can be found at gourmet food shops all over town.

But like so many industries in 2026, she says the future is murky. Bakers and pastry chefs are facing an unprecedented chocolate shortage. Prices are up, shipments are down, and dessert specialists like Dempsey are being forced to get creative as one of the year's most chocolate-centric holidays approaches: Easter.

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Ayana Hamiliton

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KJZZ

Full conversation

SAM DINGMAN: So give us some context here. When we say prices are up, what are we talking about?

TRACY DEMPSEY: Well, we're really saying I pulled a bunch of receipts from last year, previous years, and compared them to this year. And just between last year and this year, I see a 10% increase on both cocoa powder and chocolate.

DINGMAN: Do we know what's driving up the prices?

DEMPSEY: We do. We have this climate change. We have wars in places where a lot of our chocolate comes from. About 70% to 80% of the chocolate comes from West Africa.

DINGMAN: And is there a, I know tariffs are often involved in the background in a lot of these conversations. Is that affecting this as well?

DEMPSEY: It has to be, but I don't think we're really getting the full picture.

DINGMAN: Is this happening across the board?

I know you're facing this with your business, but should people be bracing for sticker shock on things like Cadbury creme eggs in the aisle at the pharmacy?

DEMPSEY: Absolutely. I just bought some of those chocolate covered malt balls. And what else? I get some Lindt chocolate bunnies. And my goodness, it's incredible how much more expensive they are. And there's a little bit of shrinkflation going on, too, but we've all known that.

DINGMAN: So what is the practical impact of all this on someone who does what you do on, like, a day to day basis? How are you having to adjust to this?

DEMPSEY: I'm really having to first of all remind my team that we have to be very, very cognizant of what we're working with. Chocolate is precious, so let's not make mistakes with recipes. We also need to think about other things besides chocolate desserts.

And fortunately, I guess the good side with the heat coming on so soon, is people are looking for lighter things. So that works to our benefit.

DINGMAN: Maybe less melty things.

DEMPSEY: Yeah, that, too. I mean, my goodness. Yeah. And that's a bad downside, too, is a lot of these chocolate bunnies and things are a lot thinner, thinner than they used to be. So they are more susceptible to melting quickly.

DINGMAN: Are you hearing anything from your customers? Are people complaining about this or, like, sad about the situation?

DEMPSEY: Those of us who really, really love chocolate are a little sad. But we also have to remember that chocolate is precious. And if you want to indulge in really good chocolate, do it and just ration it out and enjoy it for what it is.

My customers, no, really not. I've really tried to control how much because you can only increase prices so much before people just won't buy it.

So I just tried to offer more interesting things. I used things like cocoa nibs, which you can get a lot of chocolate flavor out of tiny little nibs. Try to use cocoa powder in more interesting ways rather than the processed chocolate.

DINGMAN: I'm glad you brought this up. I imagine there are some bakers listening who are thinking, you know, can I replace chocolate as a flavor using other ingredients? Or would you recommend maybe just going in a completely different direction, like maybe leave the chocolate behind this year?

DEMPSEY: Well, I would say go in other directions and explore different flavors of chocolate. Make it something that's super special. If you're going to go out on, you know, and use something, so use a really good, high quality chocolate.

But you can use it in sparing, you know, sparingly. You can use it as a little shaving or something of that and still get that big bang, but not having to spend a lot of money on that.

DINGMAN: What about for you personally? We mentioned this idea of getting creative. What are some things you're doing this year to get ready for Easter that you maybe haven't done previously that are exciting to you just from a creative standpoint?

DEMPSEY: This year I'm offering petit four, the old school traditional tiny square cakes that are dipped in a fondant glaze, not the playdough-type fondant. And they're just really beautiful and really tasty.

And that's kind of a new thing. And I've had a lot of orders for those. People are excited about something that's just kind of a little reminiscent, nostalgic, all of that.

DINGMAN: Yeah. I'm curious, Tracy, how does this compare to other disruptions you've seen in the food industry?

Do you feel like this is kind of a plate shifting moment, or are you hopeful that things will return to normal if the broader economic picture settles down a little bit?

DEMPSEY: I think as far as chocolate is concerned, I think that this is long term. I don't see this changing.

But I do remember eggs, and we could be having the same issue with avian flu that we've had in previous years. And eggs. I remember paying as much as $100 for a case of 15 dozen eggs.

DINGMAN: Wow.

DEMPSEY: Yeah. Right now I'm happy to pay like $20, which is pretty great.

DINGMAN: Oh, my gosh. Yeah, That's a big difference.

DEMPSEY: So imagine your hard boiled eggs that you're decorating, plus your chocolate bunnies. I mean, Easter could just, like, put you back a lot.

DINGMAN: Yeah. Well, as a last question for you, Tracy, just kind of a fun one. I've had the pleasure of being into your shop, and in addition to the wonderful baked goods you have, you also have a really robust wine selection.

You know, Easter is obviously very often for the kids, Easter baskets, things like that.

But for adults who are thinking about a nice celebration where they're maybe pairing some desserts and some wine. Any recommendations in the current uncertainty? We have about 30 seconds left.

DEMPSEY: Sure. As far as chocolate goes, when you think about pairing it with a wine, always think about finding a wine that's sweeter than the chocolate, because otherwise drier wines can bring out a little bit more bitterness in the chocolate. And it's not. Doesn't make for a nice pairing.

So think of things like fortified wines, like ports. You could have sherrys. You could do even a vermouth, A red, a sweet red vermouth with dark chocolate could be a lovely, lovely experience.