The chaos caused by President Trump’s tariffs have been a bitter pill to swallow for those planning to open a restaurant in the Big Apple – including a sweets shop from the scion of the famed Zabar family.
For now the candy prices are stable and comparable to other hotspots as foodie entrepreneurs appear to be eating the higher prices they’ve been paying thanks to the uncertainty of tariffs, and other issues.
Sasha Zabar, who on Thursday is launching Glace Candy, a new global candy store next to his viral hit ice cream and hot chocolate flagship shop, Glace, on the Upper East Side, says the uncertainty of where tariffs would land added extra costs to his budget and left him scrambling to find new solutions.
And that’s on top of rising costs attributed to natural disasters from avian flu to draught.
“At the end of the day, the tariffs were a big threat and a big worry, but they didn’t add to our costs as much as the uncertainty, which delayed our decision making,” Zabar said.
And that cost money.
For example, Zabar said: “We missed the cool window for shipping and had to air freight, which tripled our costs,” Zabar said.
Much of his candy offerings are from European countries like Sweden, as well as Japan. Some shipments he bought before new tariffs kicked in — and the prices changed while they were in the middle of the ocean.
So he decided to wait before buying more. But waiting meant moving from cold weather to warm — and that meant he could no longer ship the candy. So he had to fly it — tripling his cost.
Zabar has also opted to skip custom packaging from China because of tariff uncertainties — and his orders were too small for custom factories in the US.
“There isn’t much manufacturing capacity for small, custom packaging in the US,” Zabar said, adding that China, Vietnam and India are better equipped.
He’s now looking at cheaper, newer options in Dubai and elsewhere in the Middle East — but he can’t order without seeing the quality.
“I haven’t changed retail prices so far, but we’ll see. If we can’t find cost savings elsewhere, at some point we’ll have to,” Zabar said, adding for now that the tariff hikes are “not unbearable.”
Even before tariffs, “chocolate and eggs were going through the roof,” Zabar said, thanks to avian flu (for the price of eggs) and draughts (for cacao) while costs for items like molds from France also increased 10% thanks to tariffs.
“There has been a definite price change on ingredients, packaging, and more. It feels like we got hit just before we opened,” Zabar said.
Still, he added: “I’m eating the cost, not building it into the retail price.” That means that opening prices are comparable to other high priced candy joints.
The Glace candy in the shop’s bins are from Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Canada, USA and Turkey. And Zabar is charging $19 a pound for all bin candies. He will also be introducing handmade chocolate items at a later date, priced per bag, and a little higher, but that is still in the works.
To compare, a Glace Candy spokesperson said, Bon Bon — another high quality candy store with high priced imported goodies — also charges $19.50 a pound, while Dylan’s Candy Bar charges $19 and Little Sweet Treat charges $19.40.
Glace Candy, at 1266 Madison Avenue, will offer Scandinavian, European and Japanese candies and sweet treats, as well as housemade gummy and sour candies, inspired by Zabar’s favorite childhood candy spot, Millionaire Deli, which was in the space that Glace currently occupies.
The colorful concoctions are sold by weight, and include Zabar’s person creations, like small-batch chocolates, sour gummies and fruit candies sourced with ingredients from local farms, as well as marshmallow creations based on Glace’s hit S’mores Hot Chocolate Marshmallow Halo.
The Glace Candy space has a separate entrance but is connected inside through an arched path to Glace. Both shops were designed by Faber / Hughes. Guests can also choose their favorite candies and have them mixed into ice creams and sorbets like Brown Butter Vanilla, Creme Brulee and Meyer Lemon for an even more personalized, interactive experience.
As tariff costs changed daily, it was “a real eye opening experience, how these small adjustments can change pricing across the board,” Zabar said.
Glace isn’t cheap — $7.50 for one scoop, $10 for two scoops, $8 for soft serve and $12 sundaes — but it is still accessible, Zabar said. Let’s hope it stays that way.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
